The Gamer - Rockbear
by adamjoh4
Summary: Kain Rockbear has lived his life as a no life gamer who gets bullied constantly. Suddenly, he finds himself with new powers and the ability to treat the world like a game. Follow him on his journeys to become stronger and finally gain some importance to his life.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction, so I hope you guys enjoy. Hopefully I can make a chapter every few days. I'm gonna try to release as much as I can in a short amount of time, so if you see any errors, please send me a PM. Good or bad reviews, both are welcome, as long as they are critiques. That'll help me improve my work.

Update: Added health and mana, missed that in my first draft

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Kain Rockbear had grown used to a very odd part of his life. He usually went to school, taking only enough time to take a shower and throw some clothes on, usually experiencing some difficulty in easy tasks as he had went to sleep at three in the morning the day before. During school, he would ignore most of everyone else and quickly do his studies, so as to not get yelled at by the teachers, surprisingly strict for being a low funded public school. Following that, he would avoid the bullies that typically stayed near the entrance looking for prey (like him) and start to head home. He wasn't particularly weak, but he wasn't strong enough to take on multiple people at once, something that was proven to him after experiencing it one day. Kain would then play games for the rest of the day, leading into the night, only stopping for a short time if he had to eat or do other things necessary for the human body. This was all extremely normal to him, but the blue screen in front of him saying he had gained a small amount of experience for completing his homework had not been.

Following the first few days after the blue screen had appeared in front of him, Kain had accepted it as part of his brain, figuring he was just trying to find a way to cope with how bland his life felt. That is, until he was playing a game and thought out loud the word "stats".

"What the hell is this?" murmured Kain after a screen appeared before him.

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 2 Exp 4.78%**

 **Health: 40/40**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 4**

 **Str: 11**

 **Dex: 14**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 6**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 0**

 **Money: 100,000 Won**

This was completely new! This actually excited him, maybe it wasn't all in his head!

"What else can I do?" whispered Kain, not wanting to bother his mother, since it was very late and he had already turned his video game sound down immensely so as to not wake her.

Thinking of all the different menus of the multiple games he played, he decided on the first one to try. "Inventory."

Another screen popped up, showing a silhouette of a person, equipped with the clothes he was currently wearing, and a bunch of empty boxes. Wanting to test his new found skill, Kain grabbed another piece of clothing and pressed it against the block. Seeing it disappear into the menu, he gasped loudly. He heard his mother stir and promptly covered his mouth. Kain reached into the menu and retrieved the clothing he had just placed inside.

"This is amazing! I thought this thing was just in my head but it actually does stuff!"

Thinking of another menu, he decided to try it out. "...Skills?" A new menu appeared, showing a list, currently very empty. He vowed to changed that. He noticed that there were two current skills, so he clicked on them.

 **Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv Max**

Allows the Gamer to live real life as if it was a video game, keeping his mind calm even in extreme situations.

Immunity to psychological status effects

 **Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv Max**

Grants a body that allows the Gamer to live the real world like a game.

Realizing that he was now living his life as a video game, Kain barely refrained from jumping with glee. "I'm so lucky, I can't believe this is real!" He happened to look over and notice the clock, which showed that the time was four in the morning. "Crap, I need to sleep. Not that it's going to be easy." He turned off the game, completely forgotten in the moment, and jumped into bed. Kain decided that he would direct as much time during school the next day into this new ability of his.

After Kain had arrived to school, tired as usual but much more awake feeling than he had been in a long time, he wondered what he should try next. He thought more of menus, and then thought of the most obvious one of them all.

"Options." He noticed many things, including adjusting the volume of the world around him. Testing that it actually worked, he had to restrain himself from getting excited again. He noticed some other ones that he wasn't sure what they meant, but he figured he would discover their meaning later on. He was thinking of ways to gain skills when the bell rang for his gym class to begin.

"All right class, today you're gonna be running a bunch! I won't let you slack either. If I see anyone stopping who doesn't look like they're about to pass out, you're losing credit for the day. Be happy I'll let you stop at all," shouted the gym teacher.

"Damn it, I hate running, I don't have any stamina." He had a very mild asthma, but it would easily be cured if he just worked on it more. He just didn't have the drive to work it out of him yet.

Before Kain had to run, he noticed his teacher was only level 7. He thought he would be higher, since he was extremely bulky. That's weird, thought Kain. He looked around at his classmates. Most were between level 2 and 4, with the lowest being an extremely lazy kid of his class at level 1 and the highest being a few athletes at level 5 and 6.

Through a special action, a skill has been created. [Observe]

"What?" Kain said out loud unintentially.

"I said we're running, Rockbear! Let's go!" yelled back the gym teacher.

Kain decided to explore what had happened in a little bit, but to make sure he got credit for the class, he began to run. It didn't take long to get to the point where he was completely exhausted, wheezing and wishing for just a little bit more air. After he started running again and quickly returned to that pitiful state, another pop up occurred.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

That one made Kain stop. He could raise his stats? That easily? He thought it'd be through some kind of quest and gaining more experience so he could put stat points into stuff after leveling up, that's how it usually worked.

He started grinning extremely widely. "I guess it's time to get rid of that asthma then." Immediately afterwords, he forced himself to keep running.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

He couldn't help but laugh. It was so simple, he just had to put his body to its limits! He felt as if he was about to die, but it didn't stop him. Before he could gain any more however, the class was coming to an end.

"Rockbear! That was the first time I've seen you try so hard, keep it up!" yelled out the teacher.

"Thank y-" Kain tried to finish his sentence, but suddenly his mouth was full of vomit and he quickly ran into the privacy of the bathroom before spilling his guts. Okay, maybe he shouldn't push it QUITE that far, but it was still worth it.

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 2 Exp 4.78%**

 **Health: 70/70**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 7**

 **Str: 11**

 **Dex: 14**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 6**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 0**

 **Money: 100,000 Won**


	2. Chapter 2

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

As Kain sat in his next class, he decided to open up his skill menus. He's pretty sure what he gained said it was one.

"Skills." Kain spoke under his breath as to not gather anyone's attention.

 **Observe (Active) Lv 1**

A skill that will show data on the object it is directed at. More data will be shown with increased level.

"Interesting..." He looked over at a random classmate.

 **Student**

 **Kama Moruna Lv 2 Exp 3.49%**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Health: 100/100**

 **Mana: 40/40**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Str: 4**

 **Dex: 5**

 **Int: 4**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luk: 16**

"Cool, it shows stats." Kama then looked over at him, noticing that Kain was staring at her and gave him an angry glance. Kain quickly looked away. "Probably shouldn't get caught doing that."

"Now lets think... I gained a skill by doing a certain action. So that's one way of gaining a skill. Games let you get skills other ways, too, though..." Kain went deep in thought. Suddenly thinking of an idea, he grinned and decided to try it out after school ended.

Kain walked over to the public library not far from his school, avoiding the smirking bullies as he did so. He shuffled over to the do it yourself section. "Observe"

 **Handyman's Book for Dummies**

 **Skill Book: Repair**

 **Cost: 12,000 Won**

He smiled, he was right! Skill books existed with his power. He looked around the store, deciding what he was going to get. "I might as well get myself some skills that will help me pick up some extra money. Otherwise I won't be coming back to get more." Deciding on what he would purchase, Kain walked over to the librarian and asked to purchase the books.

"Are you sure you don't want to just check them out, it's free that way," asked the librarian.

"No, it'll be easier for me if I just buy them," Kain lied. He didn't know how his ability would work for this. For many of the games he played, after he learned a skill, the book would disappear. To be safe, he should buy them.

He spent a total of 48,000 Won. Kain walked out of the store and then immediately ran around to the back of the building. He didn't want anyone to see him learn the skills. Pulling out the books, a prompt came up asking if he wished to learn the skill. Of course, he said yes.

 **Repair (Passive) Lv 1**

The handyman's skill, it allows the user to fix objects.

10% increase to success of fixing item.

 **Sewing (Passive) Lv 1**

The skill of using a needle and some material for multiple uses.

10% in sewing technique.

 **Crafting (Passive) Lv 1**

Creating items from scratch is no easy task.

10% increase to success rate of crafting items.

The crafting skill interested Kain. The sewing and repair skills were both general skills that increased that action specifically, but the crafting skill could be used for many things over. This was made definite by the fact that the other skill books he got just added to the blueprints of crafting. He had purchased several building project books that were discounted.

He'll think about it later, right now he's excited to learn more skills!

He started walking in the direction of his home, but was stopped abruptly by a rough hand.

"Where do you think your going, Rockbear? It's been a while since we messed with you," smirked a slightly built teenager, who Kain recognized as one of the bullies, Duran.

"And for good reason if I recall last time correctly," Kain retorted. Last time this specific guy had bothered him, Kain had given him a black eye before booking it home before any of Duran's friends showed up.

Duran's smirk flickered for a second to anger, but it returned. "You won't get away from me this time." Three more guys came out, surrounding Kain before he could react. Kain looked up at them. Duran was only level 3, but two of the other ones were level 4 and the last was even level 5. Kain knew just by looking at them that their points would be focused on Str, he didn't need to use observe for something so obvious. Randomly, he thought of his gym teacher, and Kain realized that his teacher's Int and Wis must be low, that's why he was only level 7. He shook that thought off, it wasn't important at all.

"How should I escape?" How can I, to be more exact." thought Kain as he looked for openings between the guys. He made a quick movement towards the room between Duran and one of the level 4 guys, but they grabbed him and threw him down.

"Fine. I'll fight my way out." Kain has had experience fighting before. When he was younger, his father even taught him some essentials of boxing.

 **Quest: Defeat 2/4 of the bullies and then escape.**

 **Completion Award: 500 XP**

 **Completion Failure: Injury**

Well, the failure part was obvious enough. He was slightly surprised to see the quest pop up, but he accepted it as part of his ability and clicked the accept option. Kain already figured that to escape he'd have to defeat one or two of them in the first place.

Kain acted as if he had accepted his fate to be injured. Duran grinned and bent down to grab him to get the first hit in, but as he did so, Kain lifted himself up, putting as much strength into his arms and legs as he could. His fist hit Duran's chin, leaving him immediately unconscious. Critical! XP 150.

 **Due to a special action, the skill [Full Body Uppercut] was created.**

 **Due to a special action, the skill [Power Strike] was created.**

 **Full Body Uppercut (Active) Lv 1**

Strong attack with bare hand that strikes upwards.

5% increase in critical rate

30% increase to damage.

 **Power Strike (Active) Lv 1 MP Req: 20**

A strike with increased power.

15% increase in critical rate

50% increase in attack damage

He ignored the abilities, he needed to fight! Though since he automatically understood the skills he learned, he knew one of them would be useful right now. He turned to the next guy, one of the level 4. "Power Strike!" His fist hit the guy's abdomen, making him bend over. Using the back of his fist, Kain hit the side of his head. "Power Strike!" Critical! The bully flew to the ground, landing near Duran. XP 200

"Wow, this skill is extremely helpful!" Kain thought to himself. The other two slightly backed off, but the level 5 decided he would try his luck. He hit Kain in his shoulder, pushing him back slightly. -5 HP.

"Shit, my health is only 70, if he gets a clean hit in, I'll probably go down." The other level 4 had decided not to fight, but the level 5 was strong enough to hold Kain back.

"Well, the quest said to run, so I guess I could..." Kain looked at the level 5. Name: Baron. "...But that's no fun."

Kain quickly stepped towards Baron. "Power Strike!" Baron guarded, having seen Kain's strength. "Observe." Baron's health was 180/200. "So a guarded blow with Power Strike still does 20, huh.

He won't guard the next!" Kain used his elbow this time as he was already close to Baron, striking him in his stomach. There wasn't much damage caused, though. "Damn, should have used Power Strike then, too."

Baron swiped at his head, but Kain ducked under it. He was surprised how well he was doing. It must be because he can think calmly, even in a fight. In close quarters again, Kain gets low and then uses the strength of his whole body into delivering an upper cut. "Power Strike!" Critical! XP 300. Kain sweared he felt Baron's whole body lift up a fraction of an inch, and then completely collapsed on the ground.

Breathing hard, he looked over at the last guy. He looked at Kain, glanced over at his fallen friends, and took off running.

Kain took a moment to breathe and then began walking back towards his home.

 **Quest Completed!**

500 XP Awarded.

Bonus XP Awarded: 150

 **Level Up!**

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 3 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 70/70**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 7**

 **Str: 11**

 **Dex: 14**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 6**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 52,000 Won**


	3. Chapter 3

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Kain arrived at home not much later. He took a deep breath, taking in all that occurred earlier. He had gained a level, gained multiple skills, and had gotten into his first fight against the group of bullies. Kain smirked, remembering the feeling of his fist under Duran's chin. Though if he could prevent it from happening again, he would. More fights against them would only cause people to pay more attention to him, and he doesn't want that kind of attention.

"But I do want to get stronger, and the only way to level up is finish quests and defeating opponents..." Kain thought to himself. He thought of a way to fight without getting too much attention, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.

"For now, I need to spend my time raising my vitality." He had noticed that one of the biggest problems for him was his stamina and his health. One single glancing hit from Baron had taken a huge chunk out of his life.

His mother was still not home since she normally works second shift, so he wrote down that he would be back late and walked outside of the house.

From then on, he ran. He ran until he thought he couldn't any more. Then he ran more. He would NOT lose. He would not be weak.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

"Keep going!" Kain yelled to himself.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

"More!"

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

It was extremely late. He had ran until midnight. He fell down, completely and utterly exhausted. It was getting more and more difficult to raise the stat. He knew that if he devoted a considerable amount of time to it, he could raise it plenty more, but at a certain point it'd probably be not worth the effort any more.

He walked back home after he had caught his breath. It was a good start, but it still wasn't enough. He could easily lose a fight still. Maybe he should use the points from his level up? "No", Kain thought. "If I do that, it'd only make it harder to raise the stat when I work out. Before I should raise any stat with points, I need to reach the point where it's difficult to raise my stat through training."

 **Through making good decisions, you caused your Wis to go up by 1**

That surprised Kain. So he could raise his Wis by making good decisions? He'd have to think of an effective way of raising that as well.

Kain jumped into his bed. Tomorrow, he would have a lot to do.

After school had finished, he walked over to a room he had never visited before. There was a sign posted. "Martial Arts Club - New Members Welcome"

Kain walked in. Looking around, he was immediately amazed. None of the members were lower than level 5. Some of them were even getting close to 10! But there was one person that completely surprised him.

 **Crimson Rain Clan Member**

 **Murkuro Dominus Lv 24**

He was extremely suspicious of that, no one he has seen so far had as high of a level of that. Assuming he was the leader of the club, he walked up to Murkuro.

"Hey, are you the leader of this club? I'm looking to join," asked Kain.

"No he's not, but he's definitely the strongest," laughed a level 9 older looking boy. "I'm Dadora."

"Nice to meet you, Dadora, I'm Kain Rockbear," said Kain, bowing as he did so.

"Don't worry about etiquette. We are more brawn than brain here." Dadora smiled and gestured Kain to follow him. "I'll show you around."

Dadora showed him all the weight lifting equipment, punching bags, and other stuff. He stopped at a rectangular shaped area drawn onto the floor with mats nearby. "This is our sparring area. We put the mats down if they decide to fight seriously, we don't want anyone busting open their heads when they fall unconscious. We do open contests every now and then. We're actually doing one today if you wanna stay and watch. Until then you can work on the punching bags, we'll try to start teaching you some forms the next time you come in."

Kain walked over to the punching bags. He wanted to test something. During his fight with the bullies, he continually yelled out the name of his skill Power Strike. If he keeps yelling out the name of his techniques, he might end up getting caught by his opponents. He readied a fist. "Power Strike," Kain thought calmly. He felt the familiar energy and slammed his fist into the punching bag. The punching bag rocked a little, causing some of the members to look over at him in appreciation. "Maybe we got a good recruit this time," one of them whispered to another.

Kain was happy with that discovery, at least he doesn't have to yell out the names of his technique. He continued to practice with it for the next half hour or so, continually using Power Strike. He even managed to level it up a few times before Dadora yelled out the whole club.

"All right guys, gather around! We're gonna do an open contest! Tagura, you said you wanted to fight, you can go first! Anyone who wants to fight, just step up."

Tagura was level 6. Seeing no other people move, Kain decided to step up.

"Are you sure, Kain...? These are serious fights, I told you why we use the mats. Since it's your first day, I don't know how well it's gonna go." commented Dadora.

"Yeah, I'll try it out," answered back Kain. He got ready to fight. Tagura did the same, getting in a martial arts stance.

"Okay, if you're sure. Ready?" Dadora raised his arm. "Begin!' He quickly lowered his arm and stepped back to give room to Kain and Tagura.

Kain quickly rushed up to Tagura, doing a small strike towards Tagura's chest. Tagura simply swiped the hand away and stepped to the side. Kain turned on his toes, using the back of his hand.

Tagura jumped back. "Oh that's interesting. So you use a mix of street fighting and boxing. But it won't work against a martial arts style, not at that level."

Kain was getting annoyed that he couldn't reach him. He tried several quick hits, but Tagura dodged with ease. Tagura slipped in his fist between attacks, hitting Kain in his gut. -20 HP. Kain nearly fell, it completely took his breath away. He staggered, but he caught his footing. "You wanna keep going?" Tagura asked. Kain nodded and stepped forward, raising his guard. He dashed forward, but again, he couldn't reach Tagura. Kain put his full power into one attack. "Power Strike!" Kain thought.

Tagura was gone. He didn't understand what was happening. He was still confused when a blow to his head knocked him unconscious.

Waking up later, Kain was ashamed. He was only a few levels difference and couldn't even tough Tagura. Kain had fairly easily defeated Baron, he couldn't comprehend the difference.

"Hey, you did well for your first time," said Dadora. He was sitting near him. Most of everyone else had already left, it must have been near the end of the club meeting. "Most of everyone that just starts out can only take one hit from Tagura. You took two." Dadora grinned.

Kain looked away. "I'll be back next meeting." He walked off.

Kain walked into the library he had previously visited. He grabbed a few books, purchased them, and walked out.

 **Judo (Passive) Lv 1**

Formed by Jigoro Kano, created in 1882, it is a form of martial arts that focuses on throws and takedowns.

Increases hand to hand combat speed by 10%

 **Karate (Passive) Lv 1**

Developed on the Ryukyu Islands, it is primarily a striking art. It was developed under the influence of the Fujian White Crane.

Increases hand to hand combat speed by 10%

Increases hand to hand combat damage by 10%

 **Tae Kwon Doe (Passive) Lv 1**

Created in the 1940s, this style of martial arts focuses on kicking strikes. It blended multiple arts together.

Increases Dex 1 **%**

Increases leg technique speed by 10%

Increases leg technique damage by 10%

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 3 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 100/100**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Str: 11**

 **Dex: 14 + 0.14**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 7**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry that it's been so long since I uploaded, I started my sophomore year of college, while still working full time. So yeah, enough of my complaints, here we go.

Update: Sorry again, ch 5 will be coming out soon. Just realized while writing some of it that I had labeled this Chapter 3. Now it's right.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 4  
**

It was Saturday, and Kain was debating on how he would become stronger. He had already decided that by Monday, he would make himself strong enough to win. His dad had some arm and leg weights, so he stuck those on. Then he went for a jog.

"My body is weird, so I figure that by completely exhausting my body, good things happen, right?"

Kain was definitely right, because not long after he started...

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Str to go up by 1**

"Yes! This will be a great way to train today."

He continued to do the exact same thing for the whole day.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Str to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Str to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Vit to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Str to go up by 1**

His stats had increased so much! It was almost worth two whole levels. Kain knew he would have to do so much more. He fell asleep, completely exhausted.

The next day, he would work out his speed. He remembered very well getting his ass handed to him, simply because he couldn't see his opponent. So for the first half of the day, he did sprints and any activity that worked out his reaction time and speed.

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Dex to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Dex to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Dex to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Dex to go up by 1**

 **Through strenuous activity, you caused your Dex to go up by 1**

For the rest of the day, he decided to spend time on his newly found martial arts skills. He was successful in raising those each to level 10 each.

This was some extreme grinding. He had gained a ridiculous amount of points in his stats, and a bunch in his skill as well. He felt he had a chance now.

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 3 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 140/140**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 14**

 **Str: 15**

 **Dex: 19 + 2.09 (Since Tae Kwon Doe Lv 10, increase 1% each time)**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 7**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 5**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**

 **The Next Day – Martial Arts Club**

Kain walked in with a purpose. He felt no need to wait, so he walked directly up to Tagura.

"Can I have a rematch?"

Tagura looked at him, surprised by the question. "Um, I guess we can, we have another open match Wednesday, do you wanna do it then?"

"Actually, I wanted to do it today. Any way you can?" Kain was being very abrupt. He had hated losing so easily and he wanted to prove himself.

Again, Tagura looked surprised. "I guess." He walked over to Dadora and spoke to him. Dadora glanced over at Kain with a confused look on his face, but he nodded not long after. Tagura walked back over. "Ok, the mats are open, we can go ahead."

Kain quickly walked over there, followed by Tagura. Other members noticed the match that was about to take place and started talking amongst each other. "Why so soon, three days won't be enough to make any kind of difference," one said quietly to another.

Dadora walked up to the mats. "Get ready, guys." Both of them got into their fighting poses. Tagura noticed that the pose was completely different than last time. He distinctly remembered a style similar to street boxing being used by Kain last fight, but this looked like a polished Karate form. He gave Kain a quizzical look, to which Kain continued to look sternly at him, intent on winning.

"Fight!"

Kain dashed forward, closing the distance in seconds. He struck out. Tagura barely dodged in time, completely shocked of the difference in Kain from three days ago. Tagura recovered however, and not long after they were exchanging blows. When they broke up, Tagura spoke. "Kain, how did you learn Karate in three days?"

Kain spoke up, "That's not all." He changed forms, switching into a Tae Kwon Doe form. He rushed forward again. When he was close to Tagura, he sweeped his leg, trying to break Tagura's balance. Though again surprised, Tagura had a lot of experience fighting and was able to quickly slide back, distancing himself from Kain.

Kain switched his pose yet again, this time to a basic Judo form. Tagura was completely shocked, there's no way someone could learn so many skills in such a small amount of time. It wasn't as if he was using the basics of the basics, he was using full techniques, and Kain seemed very fluid in performing them. Kain took advantage of all these thoughts. Grabbing Tagura, he threw him over his shoulder. Tagura hit the mat. Everyone stood there, watching this match, completely shocked. A moment later Kain was standing over Tagura with his fist in position to strike. After waiting a moment to make sure that Tagura was not going to continue fighting, Kain stood up straight and offered his hand to Tagura. Still holding the shocked look on his face, Tagura accepted and stood up with Kain's assistance.

The club quickly rushed up to Kain. "Where you hiding your skills last time?! That was amazing!" one said.

Another spoke quietly, "Damn, he looked like he was completely defeated last time, I can't believe he fooled me."

Kain looked around, satisfied with his win. Then his eyes settled on Murkuro. He seemed vaguely interested in the match, but as if his mind was elsewhere.

Looking at his level again, 24, there was no way he was normal. Kain thought that he had to be like him. Kain decided that he would soon find out what he was hiding.

 **Later that day**

Kain watched as Murkuro left the club. Waiting a moment, he followed after him. Kain kept out of his sight, but he continued to follow him onto the street. Kain knew this was a weird thing to do, but if he really did have some special thing like he did, Murkuro would be a great person to learn some things about his life.

It was getting dark, and Murkuro took a sudden turn off into a side street. Thinking he was going to lose him, Kain started walking a little faster. He turned the corner, but no one was to be seen.

It was pitch black and a creepy street...Kain started feeling nervous. Maybe he should head home. He turned around to do just that when he heard something coming in his path. Maybe Murkuro had seen him and wrapped around?

His question was answered when a rotting corpse came into view, lumburing towards him.

Kain felt fear for only an instant, then Gamer's Mind kicked in. Kain looked at the level of the zombie, and he noticed it was level 9. He hadn't fought anything of that high of a level yet. Looking at the zombie though, Kain began thinking he could handle it though. It was extremely slow and seemed clumsy.

Kain got into a fighting pose and moved towards it. Once the zombie noticed him, it moved faster, groaning loudly. It was still very slow though.

Doing a few quick strikes and then finishing with a Judo toss, he dropped the zombie's health down to zero in no time. It melted away as if it had never been there in the first place. 600 XP!

He noticed another noise, and he looked behind him only to see three of them this time, lumbering towards him. Kain prepared to fight them. He rushed forward, digging his palm into one's chin, and following up with a roundhouse kick to another. The last one he threw into a building he was near. 600 XP! 600 XP! 600 XP!

Level Up!

Kain smirked a little at the level, but it dispersed almost immediately as he turned around. There, slowly walking towards him, was a horde of zombies. He started counting and stopped after 20. He turned around to see a group nearly as big the other one. "Damn it! This might not go so well," thought Kain.

If he let them come to him, he would have to fight more than 40 of them. If he rushed into one, he would only have one group and break his way out. He chose to do just that. Running at full speed, he rushed at the group. He immediately engaged the first zombie and struck it down in a heartbeat. He continued to bust through them, beating them as quickly as he could. Turning around to strike one, only to turn back around to defend against the previous. While fighting, Kain thought he saw a level up screen, but he wasn't sure. He fought through the horde, hoping to find an exit. But it wasn't coming.

More and more of them surrounded him, with no end in sight. One he knocked down bit his leg, and he stumbled under the pain. They were slowly overpowering him with numbers. "This is it... This is the farthest I was able to go. To think I'd die to something so weak..." Kain closed his eyes, waiting for his death.

Then he heard a noise not far from him. It was a weird noise, as if there was a slight hum. Then he heard another noise, a much more sickening one. The sound of bones breaking. He opened his eyes to see a person fighting at a speed he could barely follow. The humming noise came back, and the person's fist glowed blue. When the person struck a nearby zombie, a hole was blasted through it. There was another zombies nearby it, and they were all destroyed by the attack as well.

In at most a minute, the person had destroyed all of the disgusting creatures that had surrounded him, leaving Kain alone in the middle of it all, speechless.

"You dumbass, why are you here?!" shouted the person towards Kain.

Kain looked at him dumbfounded. "...Murkuro?"

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 5 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 140/140**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 14**

 **Str: 15**

 **Dex: 19 + 2.09**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 7**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 15**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**

* * *

Question to you guys, should I make my chapters longer before releasing them? They do seem to be significantly smaller than a lot of other fanfictions that I have enjoyed myself. Very open to suggestions in how to improve.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry again for time for a release, college is killing me. I released it as soon as I was done, so please point out errors.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

"What the hell is wrong with you?" yelled out Murkuro.

"Ummm..." Kain was awestruck at the power Murkuro had just displayed. He had just destroyed all of the zombies Kain was struggling with in an instant.

"Never mind about that, how are you even in the illusion barrier? You're normal aren't you?" asked Murkuro.

"Illusion barrier?" said Kain with a confused look on his face. "What's that? All I did was follow you here and then I started getting attacked."

At that Murkuro got a dark look on his face and his fist seemed to start glowing with power. "You were following me?"

Kain's eyes opened wide when he realized he had mentioned that. "That was so stupid of me," thought Kain. Thinking quickly, he decided to tell the truth. "I started following you because I could tell how strong you are compared to the other members of the club. I wanted to find out why."

"How did you know that I was stronger? I haven't sparred with anyone yet since you joined." Murkuro had a suspicious look.

Kain wondered if he should tell him about his ability, but from how Murkuro was acting, it'd be safer not to lie. "I just developed some strange ability not long ago. It's kind of like an ability that turns life around me into a game. One part to it is that it shows levels above people's heads. Normal humans are about level 13 or lower, but you were many levels ahead of that. I wanted to find out why."

Murkuro looked at Kain, confused by what he just said. "Does it do anything else?"

"Well I can learn skills automatically through skill books, so that's how I learned so many martial art styles so quickly. I can also develop my own skills through certain actions. There is an options menu, status, and inventory, and I can level up to increase my abilities. That's the short version at least," Kain shrugged.

"Prove it. Pull something out of your inventory."

Kain opened up his inventory and noticed the weights he was using for his training, so he pulled those out. Murkuro stepped back, surprised. "Whoa, that's a dimensional ability! Okay, I kind of believe you now."

Kain put the weights back. "So my turn to get answers. What's an illusion barrier?"

Murkuro looked worn out. "Jeez, someone with such strong abilities doesn't even know what something that simple is. Okay, so basically, it's an area for combat. Usually they are empty, but I was getting some light training in, so I made an illusion barrier that summons weak spirits in the form of zombies. It's about the best I can make by myself, I'm not skilled in really complex illusion barriers."

"How do you do it then?" Kain looked up at him, eager to learn.

"Easy, just put energy into your hand with the thought of creating one. Same way to get out."

Kain stuck his hand up into the air and tried to put strength into his hand. He felt a slight power come to it after a minute.

 **Energy Bolt (Active) Lv 1**

A technique to directly emit mana from the palm of your hand

"Oh!" yelled out Kain, surprising Murkuro.

"What, do you think you figured it out?"

"Better, I just got an attack to fire mana." Ignoring the shocked look of Murkuro, he thought about escaping the illusion barrier. It shattered around him, bringing back the normal sounds of the night.

 **ID Escape (Active) Lv 1**

A technique to escape illusion barriers. Can escape higher level illusion barriers with higher level.

Doing the same thing again, Kain thought of creating one. A second later, the sounds of the night were not able to be heard.

 **ID Create (Active) Lv 1**

A technique to create illusion barriers. Higher level will unlock more barriers.

Available barriers – Empty ID

"I did it!" exclaimed Kain.

"Nice. Now you mentioned an attack?" Murkuro asked.

"Oh yeah, I'll show you." Kain faced out his palm and aimed at a tree. "Energy Bolt," Kain thought. A small blue ball flied out from his hand, hitting the tree. It slightly damaged the bark. "Ah, damn, it's weak. I'll have to level it up soon."

What the hell! That technique takes a huge amount of effort to learn, yet you learned it by just facing your palm into the air?!" Murkuro yelled at him, shocked at the ability.

Kain looked at him surprised. "Oh, I didn't know it was such a big deal, it's not even that strong. Of course, with training it will be usable."

"Whatever, man," Murkuro was looking at him, as if he was trying to measure Kain's strength. "Hey, do you have anything to do tomorrow after school? I'm gonna try to show you more. It's not safe to have powers like you and to be so inexperienced."

Kain thought about it. "No, I can skip martial arts practice for the day. Let's meet up after school?"

"Okay, deal." Murkuro jumped off into the dark, destroying Kain's illusion barrier as he did so. Kain watched him leave. "If he had moved that fast in the first place, I would never have been able to follow him... Well I guess I should head home, it's getting dark." On his way back home, Kain figured he could train some of his new skills, starting with the new ones. While continuing to walk, he created and then destroyed illusion barriers. "If I can make training ones like Murkuro can, I can get way stronger than fighting normal people..." Kain thought. By the time he arrived home, he had leveled both up several times, unlocking the zombie ID and another that was called ghost ID, along with a mixed ID that contained both.

It was quiet, so he assumed that his mom had already gone to sleep. He climbed into his own bed and tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult since he was thinking of all that had occurred today and what could happen tomorrow.

 **The Next Day**

After Kain got through another monotonous day of school, he began to look around for Murkuro. He found him outside of the school building, leaning against a nearby tree. "Ready to go?" Murkuro asked.

"Yep," Kain responded with a slightly nervous tone reflecting in his voice.

Murkuro noticed it, "Don't worry, you're in no danger. We're gonna go talk to the clan about if I should help you or not. You won't be in any trouble while we are there." He gave a slight smile.

Kain nodded, and they started to walk. They talked about random things on the way, just trying to waste time. "Oh, so how long have you had your ability, Murkuro?" Kain asked.

"Me? I didn't just gain an ability like you. There are two different kinds of people who enter this world. They can be born with an ability, though yours finally developed later on, or they can train for the ability to sense ki and implement it." Murkuro looked over at Kain, slightly jealous. "Though most people that aren't born with an ability don't have the skill to become extremely powerful. I train a lot, but it's extremely hard for me to get to the level of those who were born with powerful techniques. At least I know I can be above average at the very least."

"That's interesting. Do you think my ability is all that special? Like, it has a lot of neat things going for it, but there must be plenty that are stronger." Kain replied.

"I think that's a good question for our clan head to answer," Murkuro replied.

Not much longer, they arrived at a large property that was completely surrounded with a tall brown fence. At the entrance, a man stood guard.

 **Crimson Rain Guardsman**

 **Terra Mabuya Lv 22**

"Hey Terra, is the head ready for us?" Murkuro asked the man.

"Yep, you're good to go," Terra responded casually. He glanced over at Kain, and an unusual look passed over Terra's face, but it was quickly diminished. He stepped to the side. "See you later."

As Kain and Murkuro walked past him, Kain thought about that face Terra had made. It had seemed almost like...hope.

Murkuro led Kain to a building near the center of the property, which was slightly more decorative than the others that filled the area, but still humble. "This is the room where the clan head works. Follow me." He opened the door and gestured for Kain to follow. They both walked in. The room was dimly lit, but Kain could see that there were two people guarding the next room. Murkuro walked up to them and said something quietly to them. They stepped out of the way and nodded. Again, Kain got the same glance that he had received from Terra.

Murkuro and Kain walked into the following room to see a large desk with an old but fit looking man sitting behind it.

 **Crimson Rain Clan Head**

 **Nagato Samura Lv ?**

"His level is unknown? He must be really strong!" Kain thought. Murkuro walked up to the desk, and Kain followed closely behind.

"Ah, you're finally here, Murkuro! How was school?" Nagato was very cheerful, and he had laugh lines across his face.

"Not bad, sir. I brought the guy I mentioned last night," Murkuro responded.

Kain felt Nagato's gaze move over to him. "So you did. You wanted to me to judge his worth, right?" Nagato stood up from his desk and walked over to him. "What kind of ability do you have again?" he asked Kain.

Kain went through his Gamer ability, similar to how he described them to Murkuro. "Right... Well, I prepared some things to test the ability. It seems like what Murkuro told me was accurate." Nagato turned around and grabbed a few books that were sitting on the edge of his desk. "Will you try to learn these two books?"

Kain grabbed the first one. It was called 'The Guide to Become One With Ki'. It gave him the prompt, and he accepted it.

 **Basic Yin Spirit Technique (Active & Passive) Lv 1**

The basic breathing technique of olden days to become empowered with the yin energy of the body.

Passively grants 1% Str

Passively grants 1% Dex

Passively grants 1% Vit

Passively grants 1% Int

Passively grants 1% Wis

While active, grants permanent mana increase to user

"Wow this technique is incredible! The bonuses are low right now, but with training, it could be incredibly strong!" Kain gasped.

"Im glad you think so, our clan helped develop that technique." Nagato chuckled. "Now how about this one?" He handed the remaining book to Kain.

This one was called 'The Power of the Yang Technique'. Kain pressed the accept button again, but this time he got a different prompt.

 **Detrimental Effects May Occur By Learning**

 **Accept? Yes / No**

"Um, it says that there would be detrimental effects, are you sure I should learn it?" Kain asked Nagato.

"So you're ability even warns about the crossing of energy, interesting. No, don't learn it if it says that. I'm very impressed with your ability. Now, Murkuro mentioned a dimensional ability as well, may I see that?"

Kain pulled out the weights just as he did last time. "So is my ability all that special? Murkuro said I should ask you."

Nagato gave him a serious look. "Yes, your ability is of the highest class. It seems that the world is bending rules to assist in your ability. It's of the Shinin class. But, be careful. If anyone of corrupted nature was to discover you while you are still weak, they may attack. By owning such a strong ability, people of the Abyss will see you as a tool. They can use your body for many things. They could extract the ability, they can use the energy you provide for money, and many other horrible things. You're lucky the person to find out about you first was a member of our clan."

At those surprising words, Kain had a chill run down his spine. "So what can I do? I need to get strong, but I have no way of doing it."

"That part is actually very straight forward." Murkuro looked at him in his eyes, radiating power. "Would you like to become Crimson Rain?"

 **The Gamer**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 5 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 140/140**

 **Mana: 200/200**

 **Vit: 14 + 1%**

 **Str: 15 + 1%**

 **Dex: 19 + 11% + 1%**

 **Int: 20 + 1%**

 **Wis: 7 + 1%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 15**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**


	6. Chapter 6

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Kain looked between Murkuro and the clan head. "Join your clan? Why would you want me to do that?" Kain asked, completely taken back from the surprising question.

Nagato spoke up, "While our clan looks probably pretty big to you, compared to others in the Abyss, the world of those with powers, we are actually very weak. We have some individual members that are very strong, like myself, but overall, we don't have many that could beat Murkuro, who is still very young. Abilities are even more rare for us. We divide them into five categories. Those are Shinin, Ren, Phantom, Yoma, and Human. Your ability, like I believe we have mentioned, is of Shinin. We don't have anyone of Shinin class in our clan, and we have only a couple at Ren. With you in the clan, we could help you develop, and you could become one of the strongest members of our clan."

"Also... we are in danger of being erased as a clan. There are many wars breaking out from neighboring areas, and if we lose members as we are now, we could be defeated and even be forced to scatter and never be a force strong enough to combat them again. If we could show the other members some hope, we could have a chance."

Kain thought back to how he saw the members of Crimson Rain look at him. The glances of hope were already being placed. His heart beat rose some. "That's a lot of pressure to put on me all at once."

"Don't misunderstand, we don't expect you to be active right away. Obviously we need to make you strong, and the war hasn't reached that point yet." Nagato gave a small smile. "But as a clan member, you will have our full protection from any person that makes an attempt at you. You shouldn't have to worry about people coming for you as much as a Crimson Rain clan member. We may be weak now, but we still have at least some power to deter individuals."

Kain took a deep breath. "So if I join, I can become strong? I can be helpful?" Kain had been looking for meaning in his life for quite some time. Games were fun, but they weren't something he could benefit anyone with. He had always felt useless.

"Yes. You could help us immensely." Nagato put a hand on Kain's shoulder. "Do you accept?"

Kain looked him into his eyes. "Yes, I will become a Crimson Rain clan member."

 **A Suffix Has Been Added To Your Class**

 **The Gamer of Crimson Rain**

Nagato gave Kain a smile. "Great. Now, if you want, I want to judge your speed of growth. People who have abilities can usually get stronger at a pace faster than normal people. Should I give you a month before we meet again?"

Kain looked at him and thought about that. "No, I think one week will be a good start. Right now, I think I can grow extremely quickly."

"You know, we can make it even quicker for you," Murkuro spoke up. "We have an illusion barrier that slows time to roughly five times as slow. Would you like to try that out?"

"Really, there's such a thing?!" Kain exclaimed.

"Yep," Murkuro smiled. "Let's go, I'll show you where it is."

"I'll see you in a week then, Kain," Nagato said. "Feel free to explore around. Murkuro can show you around the place, too."

Kain followed Murkuro out of the room and then out of the building. Murkuro led him around the compound, showing him a few different areas.

"Over there is the weapons storage," he said, pointing towards a building that was guarded by two members. "We have quite a bit of normal weapons, but magical weapons have to be bought individually because of their expense. Few of us can afford them."

"I'll have to visit that soon, I've been thinking of getting some experience with actual weapons," Kain responded.

A few minutes later, Murkuro led him to a small, simply built building. "This is the room that hosts the illusion barrier. They are very expensive, so this is the only one we have. If there are some others training in there, just choose another section and try to stay out of their way. Need anything else? I have to go do a few things for the clan."

"No, I'll be okay," Kain responded. "I'll see you later." They waved to each other and parted ways, leaving Kain to himself in front of the building. Kain walked up to the door and walked inside. Immediately, even before he shut the door, Kain felt as if something was different. Then, looking around, he could easily tell why. While on the outside it looked as if the building was maybe the size of a small house, the inside looked as if it was endless. In fact, Kain got the feeling that it was. He could see specks of people far away, most likely training. Kain looked at his wrist to look at the watch he was wearing. He had five normal hours before he had to be home. Thinking of what Murkuro had said, that means he should be able to stay here for nearly a whole day.

Not far away from the entrance was some simple provisions, so he didn't have to worry about food. He could sleep on the floor if he needed to. Kain smiled. "This place is perfect!" He jogged over to an empty area that was still in view of the door and sat down. "Okay, well I just learned a skill to ki within my body, so lets train that."

He sat still for an hour, in a calm, trance-like state. He breathed very slowly, finding the center of his body. Kain could feel the ki flowing throughout the body. He could feel it in the air around him. He was using the spirit technique he had learned, bringing the ki into his body.

 **MP Regeneration +100%**

 **Permanent MP + 20**

Seeing those, he was quite happy. "Awesome! I guess my MP regen increases while I'm in that state. Plus permanent MP boosts!" He grinned. "Okay, well I can feel the ki now. Let's try bringing it out." He took control of the ki and attempted to push it out of his body. At first, it was difficult, but after a while, he had a slight red glow around him. "Huh, Murkuro's ki was a different color. Does it change according to person or according to technique?" He shrugged it off.

 **Basic Yin Outer Ki Technique (Passive & Active) Lv 1**

A technique to push ki out of the body to augment the user's ability

Passively increases Vit by 1%

Passively increases Str by 1%

Passively increases Dex by 1%

While active, Str + 20, Dex + 20

Again, Kain grinned. The benefits for that technique were similar to the spirit technique. But he could feel his MP draining quickly. He could only hold the ki for maybe ten more minutes.

Then Kain got an idea. He could train both techniques at once! If he just left the Outer Ki Technique on while using the Spirit Technique, he could increase the time he could use the Outer Ki Technique while leveling them both. He sat back down and began the process again.

By the end of the time he had, he had leveled up both significantly.

 **Basic Yin Spirit Technique (Active & Passive) Lv 12**

The basic breathing technique of olden days to become empowered with the yin energy of the body.

Passively grants 12% Str

Passively grants 12% Dex

Passively grants 12% Vit

Passively grants 12% Int

Passively grants 12% Wis

While active, grants permanent mana increase to user Current Amount Added - 260

 **Basic Yin Outer Ki Technique (Passive & Active) Lv 11**

A technique to push ki out of the body to augment the user's ability

Passively increases Vit by 11%

Passively increases Str by 11%

Passively increases Dex by 11%

While active, Str + 20, Dex + 20

While the boosts for activating the outer ki technique hadn't increased, the strain to hold the technique had dropped significantly. That combined with his increased MP meant he could leave it on for a much longer time. He thought about it. Maybe an hour and a half? Plus, he had the suspicion that if he wanted to increase the bonuses for the outer ki technique, he would just have to put more ki into the technique. It was a reasonable assumption since he was the one who pushed it out in the first place. Kain knew he could put more into it.

Feeling much stronger, he walked back out of the building. It was dark now, so he walked out of the property and headed towards home. All the way home, as he usually did when he was walking, he spammed his ID Create and Escape.

When he finally reached home, he noticed lights. When he walked in, his mother was standing in the kitchen. "Hey kiddo, dinner's almost ready." She glanced over at him.

"Okay, mom." Kain went into his room and got into more comfortable clothes.

Once he got back out, his mom spoke. "You know, I haven't seen you much lately. Where have you been?"

"Um, well I joined a club, and then today I was hanging out with a new friend." It was only part of the truth, but Kain felt like it was enough.

"A new friend? What's his name? And what club?" His mother looked at him quizzically.

"His name is Murkuro," Kain said uncomfortably. He still wasn't sure if they were friends yet, but they seemed like they were at least acquaintances. "And the club I joined was martial arts."

"Is that why you seem so much more confident?" his mom asked, surprising him.

"Um, yeah I guess. What do you mean?"

"Well, honestly, when you used to come home, you always seemed to be in a slump. I was worried about you, I was thinking of getting you an appointment with a counselor. But when you walked in today, you looked confident in yourself." She smiled. "I care about you honey, I don't want you to feel bad. I'm glad you're finally feeling a bit better about yourself."

Kain couldn't believe it, she had hit it on the dot. He had felt like he had purpose, unlike just a few days ago when he felt like a nobody. "Thanks mom, I'm doing well."

"Good!" She turned around and pulled out a pan from the oven. "Now time to eat!"

After dinner, before Kain went to bed, his mom had one more thing to say. "Oh, by the way, your dad should be coming back from his trip pretty soon. I'm not sure when, but it shouldn't be any more than a few weeks."

"Cool," responded Kain. He hadn't seen his dad in at least three months. He was always going on trips for business, but he said it was necessary. "Okay, good night, mom."

"Good night! And since I'll be sleeping when you get up for school, have a great day."

"Will do, mom."

The next few days went by fairly quickly, well besides the fact that each time after school Kain went into a room that slowed time down. Through these next few days, Kain decided to solely focus on his fighting stats, Vit, Str, and Dex. He was able to boost them an extremely high amount.

+15 Vit

+11 Dex

+19 Str

He felt better than he ever did before. The small amount of asthma that he had from his low vitality was long gone, and he knew he was stronger than any average person. The stat points he had gained was equivalent to nine levels.

On his way out of the room on Friday, Murkuro met him. "Hey, do you want to go training together tomorrow? It's the weekend so we'll have all the time in the world to do it."

"Sure. In the time barrier?"

"Yep. I'll see you then?"

"Sure thing." Kain walked home, happy with his new found strength. And just as an added bonus to make him even more happy, on his way home, he unlocked a new illusion barrier.

 **Time Warping ID**

Currently slows time to 2x

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 5 Exp 2.33%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 460/460**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 11%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 11%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 11%**

 **Int: 20 + 12%**

 **Wis: 7 + 12%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 15**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**


	7. Chapter 7

I think I've gotten a decent schedule down, so I should be able to keep releasing often like I have. It might slow down to once every two weeks if I get busy.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Kain and Murkuro met up the next morning. They were standing outside of the time illusion room. "So basically, you're going to create another illusion barrier inside the room?" asked Kain.

"Yep. It's kind of confusing, but it works. I'm going to make the zombie illusion barrier again," replied Murkuro.

"Okay." They walked into the familiar building. Murkuro led them to one side of it where the lights continued to get dimmer until they were nearly completely gone. "We chose to alter part of the barrier so we could have training for low visibility. The zombie illusion barrier I make requires it to be dark, so this works well for us. I reserved the area, so no one should bother us." He raised his hand, and not long after, the sounds of zombies surrounded them.

Kain got prepared for the incoming army of zombies. He was nervous, since last time he had gotten overrun and had nearly died. As the first one neared him, he lashed out and struck it in it's chin. It was immediately defeated. "Whoa! They're a lot weaker than they seemed last time."

"Of course, you worked on your basic strength, right? They aren't really all that tough," Murkuro responded, destroying a zombie as he spoke.

"This is a lot different though, I didn't expect it to change this much," Kain responded. To test his strength, he attacked a group of zombies and defeated them extremely quickly again. "This is such easy experience!"

At that moment, Kain activated his outer ki. He got into a martial arts stance and prepared. "Let's do this."

Murkuro grinned. "Sure thing."

They slaughtered them.

 **Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!**

 **Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!**

"So why do you train against these, Murkuro? You don't have to fight such low level things, and you don't have an ability like me that relies on experience points," Kain asked as they took a break. They had been at it for a few hours.

"They're good for training to fight groups. It helps you get an awareness of who is near you," Murkuro replied, wiping off some sweat. "Hey, you've gotten a lot stronger. You said you leveled up six times, right? If you used the points, you could get pretty close to some of the lower members of the clan."

"Yeah, I'd be a lot stronger, but by not using them, it makes it easier to grind the stat points," Kain replied. "The stronger I am, the harder it is to gain a point in strength. Same for my vitality and dexterity. I've been debating on putting them into my intelligence or wisdom, since it's a lot harder to raise those quickly. I was also thinking of luck, but I'm not sure yet. I'm just gonna hold off for now."

"Makes sense." Murkuro started thinking of something. "Hey, we could try something later for wisdom if you want. Intelligence is harder, but wisdom is basically applying what you know, right? We have a 'game' our clan plays that tests our strategy in fighting. It's a board game, basically you control an army and attempt to conquer the other. It's kind of like chess."

"Yeah we can do that later," Kain replied, standing back up. "Hey what's that?" He pointed at something lying on the ground nearby.

Murkuro walked up to it and picked it up. It looked like a small red stone. "I'm not sure, but it has a small power coming from it."

Kain walked over to him. "Observe."

 **Low Grade Soul Stone**

A crystal created by integrating many souls

Useful for many things

"A zombie must have dropped something," Kain stated. "Useful for many things? That's nice and vague." Kain rolled his eyes.

"A zombie shouldn't be able to drop items, it's a spirit. Your ability must be affecting them," Murkuro said. "Then if you fight better opponents..."

"Then I get better items," grinned Kain. "My ability is awesome."

"Let's see if we can't get anymore items from them today," said Murkuro.

 **Level Up! Level Up!**

After fighting for a significantly long time, Kain had leveled up a total of eight times. Kain smirked. "If it keeps up like this, I'll catch up to you in no time, Murkuro."

"I guess you will," agreed Murkuro. "Hey, so that observe skill used on that item, what does it say about me?" They had received four more of the soul stones, and they also got some creepy drops that said they were for crafting, such as a few ribs and some stray teeth. All of it was stored in Kain's inventory.

"Observe." Kain looked at the stats of Murkuro. "Well, you're significantly stronger than your level suggests. I guess martial arts really does boost your strength by a lot. Oh! It has an experience percentage. It says you're only 3% away from a level up."

"Really? But I can't gain experience like you can," responded Murkuro.

"Well let me try something. Games have a party system, right? Let's see if it works for me, too. Create Party." A window popped up, asking him to name the party. "It worked!" Another screen popped up asking if he wanted to call the party 'It worked!' Shrugging, he pressed the accept option. "Okay, let's try the last part then. Invite Murkuro."

A pop up appeared in front of Murkuro, shocking him. "This is what you see constantly?! It's so weird."

Kain shrugged. "You get used to it. Press the button to accept."

Murkuro pressed the button. "So now we go beat a few more and try to level me up?"

"Yep." It took a little bit of time, but they completed it. Kain was getting near another level up as well. "Now just say 'Status' and you'll be able to put the points wherever you want," instructed Kain.

Murkuro did so. Looking at his stats, he hit some points and exited off. "So what did you put them in?" asked Kain.

"Luck. It's the one thing I can't change by myself. I figured that I'm used to training everything else, so I'm in no rush to level that up. But I can't do anything about my luck. If I stick with you and get some more level ups, I might just spread them evenly."

Kain nodded. "That makes sense. So what should we do for the rest of the time we have? I could go level up some more."

"Nah, I'll show you that game we have." They walked out of the time warping room and Murkuro led him towards another area. It was still some time in the afternoon. The building they walked into afterward had several tables with large boards on top of them. Murkuro described the rules to him. It was fairly complex, where certain pieces would defeat others, but if conditions were satisfied, they could win. Kain was lost the first match.

"I win," Murkuro said after about three minutes into the match.

"Huh?" Kain stood up, trying to look at the pieces to see where he messed up. "How?"

Murkuro pointed out how some of his pieces had Kain's cornered, leaving him with no way to escape. "A good match lasts at least thirty minutes, so we'll keep playing until you can match that."

It was hell for Kain. He kept trying to think of new methods, but they always failed. After about an hour, he finally got a little farther into the match, but was crushed a moment later.

 **Due to increasing use of strategy, your Wis increased by 1**

"Finally, it went up!" Kain yelled out in exhaustion.

"Good," Murkuro smiled. "Maybe by the time we're done, you can take a few more pieces."

By the time he was planning on leaving, Kain had gained four more points into his Wis. While he was happy about that, he still hadn't gotten close to defeating Murkuro except for his last match. The last time he played, Kain had nearly corned Murkuro's pieces, but Murkuro was able to maneuver out and hit his from behind.

Before he left, Murkuro shook his hand. "Good try man, maybe next time you can win."

"Thanks. I guess I'll see you at the meeting with the head," replied Kain.

"Wanna train afterward?"

"Sure," grinned Kain. So he headed on home, happy with the how the day went.

 **The Next Day**

"You've gotten much stronger," Nagato commented. "Much stronger. I think you'll be as strong as the lower members within a month."

"Actually, Murkuro said that I should already be able to match them. All I have to do is use my stat points, but I'm waiting to use them," replied Kain.

"You haven't used those yet? Then I was wrong, by the end of the month, you should be much stronger than that. You should be stronger than Murkuro by then. If you keep this up, you could get a much higher position in the clan in a fairly short amount of time."

"What do you mean by that, sir?" asked Kain.

"Basically, you get more pull the stronger you are. We can only have the ones that can hold our clan up as the ones to run it. But I wouldn't worry about that too much, we'll come to that later. Right now, I need to start thinking of what position you'd best run at the moment. We have some that do jobs that get us revenue, others that help fight against other clans, and a bunch of others. I'll have to think of your ability and try to find the best place for you."

"Okay sir. Anything else you need of me?"

"Nope. Thanks for coming in. I'll send for you when I finally get around to figuring out what you can do to help us first." Nagato smiled. "Which I'm sure you'll be able to do plenty. See you later."

Since he was dismissed, Kain waved goodbye and walked out. He was happy that the clan head was such a casual person to talk to. He was obviously strong, but he didn't try to show it. He was modest. Kain decided that today he would take off from training. He had been working on it non stop since he discovered that he could raise his stats and felt he deserved it.

He walked out of the clan property, waving good bye to the usual guard, who recognized Kain as a clan member now. He was walking calmly and then turned down a small alleyway, a shortcut he had found that brought him home quicker.

After a few steps, he felt a searing pain on the right side of his body, right below his ribs. His body flew across the ground, bouncing several times.

"I finally found you, you brat! There was no way I was attacking when all of those old fuckers were around, that clan isn't to be messed with."

Kain struggled for a second before his Gamer's Body let him recover. His HP had dropped dramatically from that since he hadn't had on his outer ki. Looking up, he saw his attacker. It was a large burly man with long brown hair. He was holding a large club, nearly the same size as him. Kain assumed that was what had hit him in his side.

 **Dameron Kitchki Lv 35**

Seeing the level, Kain froze. He knew he could take down monsters of that same level, but that was because his stats were much higher than his actual level, and their levels corresponded with their stat points. But most humans were different, especially those with any sort of ki. "Observe." Comparing the stats to his own, he began debating running, which is exactly what he would have done if the burly man hadn't begun his charge at Kain for his second attack.

"Shit, Outer Ki activate!" It was nowhere near enough. Kain tried to dodge, but he was still hit with the edge of the weapon, damaging him again. Breathing hard, Kain tried his own attack, but Dameron blocked it with ease, as if fighting a child.

"That's weak, man. You need to level up more."

Kain took a step back. "How do you know I have an ability that lets me level up?"

The man grinned. "It's not hard to find out anything when you have enough money. Have you never been approached by the Abyss Auction?"

"Abyss Auction?" asked Kain. He didn't like the idea of anyone selling information on him.

"Yep. It sells everything you can think of... Including human lives." Dameron sneered at that, preparing for his next attack.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 13 Exp 86.59%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 460/460**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 11%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 11%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 11%**

 **Int: 20 + 12%**

 **Wis: 12 + 12%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 55**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**


	8. Chapter 8

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

The huge man charged after Kain. "Shit what can I do about him?" Kain thought. Even with his outer ki technique, he wouldn't stand a chance. He had nearly no defense techniques besides the ones built into his martial arts. "I don't know, lets see if he has a weakness to magic. Energy bolt!" The blast fired out, but Dameron just shrugged it off and continued his charge. He brought the club down towards Kain, with him barely dodging it, feeling the air off of it.

"Well that didn't work." Kain thought sourly. He began to think again. "Well, I won't be able to last long with my mana, but I could power up the outer ki. But if it doesn't work, I'll be done." Jumping back, he began to increase the ki flow in the outer technique.

 **Increased input, Str +60, Dex +60**

"Oh, that looks a little better, kid! But how long can you keep it up?" Dameron laughed.

Kain rushed forward and threw out a punch. Dameron blocked it with his club, but with noticeable strain. Kain followed up with a quick kick to the side, which slipped past the guard of Dameron, making him fly a little away. He tried to follow up on it, but abruptly stopped when the blunt weapon buried itself into the ground right in front of him, now glowing with bright orange ki.

"You're gonna regret that, kid," Dameron growled. "I'm gonna fuck you up."

"Oh shit," Kain thought before being struck in the jaw with the weapon. Trying to maintain his footing, he spit out some blood. "He can use outer ki, too, shit. This is gonna hurt. I have to get closer to the clan."

With his increased strength, he jumped up onto a building and ran off, trying to get as much distance as he could. Not long after however, he felt an arm grab his shirt, stopping his progress.

"Not gonna happen, you little shit!" Dameron threw Kain off the building onto the hard concrete below.

"Last ditch effort!" thought Kain before boosting his ki even further.

 **Increased input, Str +100, Dex +100**

"I can only hold this for at best a minute or two," thought Kain. He could feel his mana dropping at a huge rate. He shot forward, striking Dameron in his stomach. Kain could hear him gasp for air as Kain jumped up and brought his foot across Dameron's face, causing his body to spin around before hitting the ground.

"Goddamn it, kid, I'll kill you!" The huge man snarled. He boosted his own outer ki, and the orange ki rose high.

"That's a lot stronger than mine, I didn't stand a chance," Kain said solemnly. Before his eyes could register Dameron's movements, the huge man was already hitting him. He was struck several times in the gut, causing him to keel over. When Kain did that, Dameron brought his elbow down onto Kain's neck, firing him deeply into the ground.

"I'm gonna make you suffer before I take you out of here," he sneered. He brought his club down onto Kain's legs, causing a stifled scream to escape his lips. The outer ki surrounding Kain dispersed, leaving Kain completely defenseless. Dameron prepared to swing yet again. Kain prepared his mind for the pain that was about to come.

But it never came. After a few seconds, Kain struggled his way onto his back so he could see his surroundings. Standing above him was a man he had come to know over the past week. "Murkuro!"

"You got yourself into some trouble I see," he replied simply. He was holding back Dameron's weapon, struggling with the strength put behind it. Dameron jumped back, preparing for the fight with the newcomer. "Hey big guy, you might wanna rethink what you're about to do," Murkuro said calmly. A second later, two other people dropped next to Murkuro. They were level 31 and level 34 members of the Crimson Rain.

"You guys are still weak, I can take this many," said Dameron, narrowing his eyes. His outer ki spiked to its maximum.

A second later, all three members of Crimson Rain did the same. Despite being a lower level, Murkuro's ki was no weaker than the others. All four combatants rushed towards one another, Murkuro blocking Dameron's attack. The other two struck him in his side, sending him flying back.

"Damn it, I will not lose!" Dameron rushed out, striking one of the members across the face, leaving it in a bloody mess. He tried to do the same to the other, but the Crimson Rain member ducked under it and brought his fist into Dameron's stomach. Murkuro charged and jumped up to strike his jaw with his feet. Before Dameron could recover, the battle ended abruptly with the other clan member focusing his ki into his hand a struck the neck. The hand penetrated it, and Dameron's neck began spewing blood. Moments later, he dropped to the ground, dead.

Kain was extremely exhausted. He saw the bloodied clan member slowly stand up. "Good, no one had to die for me..." he thought. Then his vision went black and he passed out.

* * *

"...ain! Kain!" Kain was abruptly woken up by Murkuro shaking him. They were no longer on the street; they were now in a white building that Kain assumed was the medical room for the clan.

"How are you feeling? You were bleeding pretty hard for a little before your body seemed to just heal up." Murkuro was looking at him with worry.

Kain pulled up his status window to see his health was almost completely filled back up. "I'm fine. My ability allows my body to heal pretty easily. I'm almost to full health. It's pretty convenient." He leaned up, removing the blanket that covered him. Then he noticed how little he was wearing and immediately pulled the covers back up, since Murkuro was not the only one in the room. "Was the undressing really necessary?"

Murkuro looked at him with amusement. "We had to check for any other injuries. You sure you're okay?"

"Yep," Kain said, noticing his clothes across the room. "Could you throw me my pants?"

"Sure," Murkuro said. He reached back and tossed them to Kain, who quickly put them on beneath the sheets. "Now, what happened?" he asked, regaining the serious mood.

"Basically, I was walking on my way home and the dude just randomly attacked me without warning. Though I found out that information on me was being sold through something called the Abyss Auction," Kain replied calmly.

Murkuro got an angry look on his face. "How the hell did they find out about you? We were trying so hard to keep you secret so it wouldn't happen. Have you been training at home?"

"Not really. I train my illusion barriers on my way back home, but besides that, no."

Murkuro rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Shit, that makes sense then. We should have told you not to make illusion barriers much outside of the clan. Doing it constantly like that probably drew their attention."

"Should I stop doing it now?" Kain asked.

"It doesn't really matter at this point, they know of your existence now. If you keep doing it, just make sure to be on guard for more attacks, since you won't be paying as much attention to your surroundings." Murkuro thought for a second. "We're gonna have to increase the number of guards around the area. I'll have to tell the captain."

"Oh, I just thought of something," Kain said. "What job do you do in the clan?"

"That was off topic considering you almost died today." Murkuro smiled. "I do whatever I can to help around, I don't have a set position. Usually I'm helping out the protection of the clan though."

Kain nodded. "And do you know more about what the Abyss Auction does?"

"Yeah." Murkuro got a sour look on his face. "They're the best around for buying goods for this world, like magic items and the such. But they don't discriminate what they sell. That includes people. All right, I gotta go. On your way home, the two guards outside this door will shadow you to make sure there are no more enemies nearby in hiding."

"Okay, thanks." Kain got up as well.

The trip home was uneventful. But being as quiet as it was, Kain began thinking of his strength. "I need more defense. So far, all I've focused on is attack. It's not enough for a fight."

Thinking of ways to complete that task, he arrived at home. There was no one else home, so he sat down and debated on what to do.

It reached nightfall. Kain finally decided on what he was going to do to get stronger. "Mana is a strong force. If I want to get stronger, I need to master manipulating it. Once I can change its form, I can use it for defense."

He walked outside and wandered off towards a bare area. Kain raised his hand. "ID Create: Time Warping ID." It slowed the time down by 4 at its current level. Raising his hand again, he created an inner illusion barrier. "ID Create: Ghost ID."

Not long after, Kain was surrounded by gray colored floating ghoulish creatures. He immediately attempted to hit one with his fist, which passed right through it. He added ki to it and tried again. This time, the attack hit and destroyed the creature. "Like I thought, you have to use techniques that include mana to hit it," Kain thought.

Kain fired his energy bolt several times at the creatures. It was doing minimal damage. "This is gonna take forever," sighed Kain. He trained that skill for at least an hour, though in the real world it was only 15 minutes. It reached level 10. He raised his hand, broke the illusion barrier, and began training his spirit technique to quickly recover the mana he had had lost.

"Okay, this time I'm going to create some new skills now that I have a good handle on using the mana," he said, raising his hand. "Ghost ID."

Now as the ghosts came towards him, he created an energy bolt, but didn't release it. Instead, he kept adding more mana to it, slowly building its size. When it was nearly three times the size of the previous energy bolt, he let it go, destroying the ghost instantly.

 **Through a special action, a new skill was created**

 **Large Energy Bolt (Active) Lv 1**

More effective larger form of the basic spell Energy Bolt

Increases damage by 200%

"That wasn't too hard," Kain said, smiling. "Okay, now how about a barrier?" He poured out a small amount of mana from his hand. "Okay, flatten...and become durable." Kain manipulated the mana as he said the words, doing as he said.

 **Through a special action, a new skill was created**

 **Mana Shield (Active) Lv 1**

Barrier that takes a certain amount of damage before shattering

"Great! Mana Shield!" A barrier surrounded Kain. To test it, he walked up to a nearby ghost and let it attempt an attack. It wasn't able to pass the barrier, but the barrier was noticeably damaged. "I'll definitely have to grind that, it's so weak." He fired a Large Energy Bolt at the ghost so he could continue his skill creating in peace. "Okay, one more long distance technique." Kain thought of all of the shows he had watched, and then Dragon Ball Z came into his mind. "Let's try to make a beam attack!" Kain grinned.

Kain made a large energy bolt, but when he let go, he kept flowing mana through his hand, connecting the bolt to his palm. It shot out just like he had planned it to, a flowing blast that mowed through a line of ghosts.

 **Level Up!**

 **Through a special action, a new skill was created**

 **Mana Beam (Active) Lv 1**

A very strong attack that continuously fires mana out of the palm.

Increases damage by 200%

Can be held until mana runs out

"Perfect!" Kain yelled out. "Okay, one more! But this time, close distance." His plan took Kain a considerably longer time to pull off. He pulled mana out from his palm, gripping it in his hands. Protruding out of his grip was a long, poorly made beam.

Kain grimaced. "That's not good enough." With a lot of effort, he sharpened the mana. Along the thin edges of the blade, the mana was quickly moving to create a cutting effect.

 **Through a special action, a new skill was created**

 **Name your skill?**

"Mana sword," Kain said.

 **Mana Sword (Active) Lv 1**

A form manipulation of mana that has a sharp edge, looking similar and acting just like a sword.

"Perfect. Now it's time to train." He readied his new blade, preparing to charge the hourd of ghosts that had been slowly surrounding him.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 14 Exp 6.83%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 470/470**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 11%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 11%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 11%**

 **Int: 20 + 12%**

 **Wis: 12 + 12%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 60**

 **Money: 33,500 Won**


	9. Chapter 9

Basically, this chapter wraps up the basic training and his schooling, so I should be able to get closer to an arc now. That's why it's slightly shorter than what I have been getting used to.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!**

Mana sword had gone up many levels, so it was extremely easy to maintain. Kain had also unlocked another skill from using it.

 **Sword Mastery (Passive) Lv 3**

Increases attack with swords by 14%

Increases speed with swords by 14%

The attacks became more fluid, and he had no problem decimating the whole crowd of enemies. They had dropped a significant amount of lesser grade soul stones as well. He was collecting them now.

"This is so annoying having to pick up everything. I'll have to think of a skill to pick all this stuff up easily soon," Kain said as he reached down to pick up the last couple stones. "Now should I get out of here and clear it again while I have time?"

While he was debating on he was going to do, behind Kain, the ghostly remains of the ghouls started to collect in one area. Kain started to hear a small whistling noise, which soon turned into a screech that continued to get louder and louder. Soon Kain was holding his hands over his ears, unable to protect himself from the huge noise coming from behind him. He spun around to see the cause of the screeching.

About twenty meters away from him was a large dark red ghoul. It held a more human shape, having arms and legs. The legs didn't touch the ground however, as they turned into clouds where the feet would be. In its hands, a large scepter was forming. Then Kain saw its eyes. They were black as night, nearly freezing Kain in place. He had to shake himself to remove his eyes from its gaze. Instead, he looked higher.

 **The Red Demon Ghoul Lv 35**

"ID Escape," Kain said immediately, hand held high.

 **Cannot Escape Illusion Barrier**

"What?" Kain yelled. "Shit, I guess that means I have to fight it then."

The demon began to get closer, which Kain didn't notice for a few seconds since it was floating over the ground. Kain jumped back. The sudden movement didn't go unnoticed by the ghoul. It raised its scepter and fired a massive fireball off the tip of it towards Kain.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Kain yelled out as he sprinted away from it, turning on his outer ki technique as he did so. Sliding, he turned towards the monster. "Energy Beam!" he yelled. The blast fired from his palm, and he held it for a few seconds before finally letting it disperse. "Did it work?" Kain asked himself.

The blast cleared to show the ghoul still standing, but noticeably injured. It's health had gone down about a tenth of the way. It looked up at Kain with a menacing glare. Raising its scepter again, it fired three massive fireballs in succession.

"Not well enough!" Kain said as he sprinted away from the attacks again. He had been thinking of just using mana shield to defend himself while he attacked it, but he knew that it wouldn't hold up. Instead, he chose to follow the thought process he had during the fight with Dameron.

 **Increased input, Str +60, Dex +60**

"This should be enough to stay away from his attacks," Kain thought. "Now to strike back. Mana sword." The sword developed by Kain formed around his hand, covered in the ki that surrounded Kain already. Dodging a few more of the fireballs, he closed the distance between the ghoul and him. The ghoul attempted to stab him with the scepter, but compared to the high level magic attacks, its close combat was weak. Kain easily dodged it and cut through its side before slipping underneath its gaze. "Great, it has a weakness exactly where I have my strength," Kain thought, smiling.

Kain continued this for a time, sliding behind its gaze and slashing as he went. The monster was slowly faltering, and Kain could see that its health was near its end. "Time to finish you off, Mana Beam!" Kain thought. This time, he held the attack until his mana was depleted. When the attack cleared, the ghoul was no more.

 **Level Up!**

"Great! I've leveled up a bunch tonight!" Kain grinned. He began walking away, but then he noticed that the ghoul had dropped something. He walked over to the pile of stuff that was lying on the ground.

He picked up the first item.

"Is this... a health potion?" Kain thought, turning it around in his hand. "Observe."

 **Lowest Grade Recovery Potion**

Heals 200 HP Automatically

"Nice!" Kain smiled. He put it into his inventory and noticed the next think. "Money!" Kain yelled out, quickly grabbing it. He counted it out. "...750,000 Won..." He had to prevent himself from jumping in joy. "750,000 Won! That's so much! I could buy so many games with that!" He nearly tossed it into his inventory, excited to see what else it dropped.

The last item was a book. He picked it up.

 **Would you like to learn the skill "Ethereal Form"? Yes/No**

"Ethereal form? Does that mean I can't be hit by physical attacks?" Kain hit the accept option.

 **Cannot learn skill**

 **Required Int- 70**

 **Required Wis- 40**

The disappointment was harsh when he noticed that. He could raise his stats to be able to learn it, but he still wasn't sure what he wanted to use them on. "I guess for now I'll just put it in my inventory..." He put it in there with the rest of his stuff that he had gained.

He had a cell phone on him, so he checked the time. "This didn't take too long, I still have two or so hours before my mom will get home. I can clear it a few more times since I'm in a time warping barrier."

So he did just that. He cleared it three more times, leveling up four more times and gaining seven more potions and 1,500,000 more won.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 22 Exp 0.62%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 470/470**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 14%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 14%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 14%**

 **Int: 20 + 12%**

 **Wis: 12 + 12%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 100**

 **Money:** **2,283** **,500 Won**

 **The Next Day**

When Kain arrived at school, he was reminded of something that disappointed him.

"We have tests," groaned Kain. The college placement tests were finally arriving, and after he took them, it would be the end of the school year. It was his final week of school.

His teacher spoke to the class. "Okay, you're almost there! You'll have testing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so make sure you finish up your preparations today and Tuesday."

Kain took this as an opportunity to raise his Int and Wis. He would need both for the tests. After school ended (which had been full of boring, monotonous practice tests), he walked over to the clan. Monday and Tuesday were pretty much the exact same. After studying in the 10x time barrier of the clan for about half of the time he had, he would then play the strategy game with Murkuro. After the two days, he had improved his Int by 16 and his Wis by 11. He was completely prepared for his tests.

The first day went extremely well, but he knew that the tests on Friday included math and science, which is more than just memorizing material. Kain would have to prepare his mind to apply his knowledge correctly.

Because of that thought, he spent the whole time in the time illusion barrier on Wednesday to improve his math skills to boost his Wis, which he was able to raise by another 5. Conveniently, he also got a new skill.

 **Mathematician (Passive) Lv 6**

A skill that improves the process of the mind when doing math equations

Passively increases Wis by 6%

On Thursday after his tests, he repeated the process, but this time with science. His Wis went up by 3. The mathematician skill also raised by 4, since some of the science problems used math skills.

On Friday, he took those tests and Kain knew he had gotten an incredibly high score. His graduation ceremony would be a while from now, but Kain was out of school. He could finally devote his time to getting stronger. He grinned.

"Now it's time to get serious."

When he arrived home, he also got some news. Apparently his dad was getting ready to come home. He would be back in one week.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 22 Exp 0.62%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 630/630**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 14%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 14%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 14%**

 **Int: 36 + 12%**

 **Wis: 31 + 12% + 6%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 100**

 **Money:** **2,283** **,500 Won**


	10. Chapter 10

Don't worry, I'll be getting into more action and progressing the story more soon.

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **The Next Day**

Kain was summoned to the clan head's office. Kain was standing in front of Nagato's desk, waiting quietly for him to speak. After another minute, Nagato finally acknowledged him. "Sorry about that, there's some paperwork I had to do to prepare for some things. I summoned you here because I'd like you to choose what your current position in the clan is."

"What options have you chosen for me?" Kain asked.

"I think best suited for you would be something inside the area or somewhere you can be protected by clan members. People still are very wary to attack you because of our presence, but if you were closer to the edges of our reach, you would be at risk. So these are the options for you. You can try a trade such as blacksmith or potion creator, since you can probably learn those skills fairly easy. You could work on making us money. Murkuro mentioned that you're able to gain money and items from spirits from the illusion barriers. Or you can help run our lower class training, mostly with training new recruits in martial arts. You've become pretty proficient in several different martial art forms, so it wouldn't be an issue to teach beginners."

"Would I be able to choose more than one?" Kain asked, thinking of how he could best help the clan.

Nagato thought about it and then nodded. "Yes, I suppose you could. It'd be stressful however, we ask quite a bit of you."

"So, for example, if I wanted to help with gaining money, how much would I need to get to meet the quota?"

"Since you're just beginning, the first few months would be about one million won a month." Nagato said.

"I can do that." Kain grinned. "And I would also like to take up the blacksmith position and potion position. I might try to do some teaching later when I'm more skilled."

Nagato raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you can handle that much? Just the money one could tire you out."

Kain reached into his inventory, grabbing 2,000,000 Won out of it. "Here's the first two months. I'll try to get more before the month is over, but I want to learn a bunch of the other stuff first."

Leaving Nagato with his mouth agape, he was pointed towards the building that would hold the blacksmith. Kain grinned the whole time, he loved surprising people with his ability.

When he entered the building, he was immediately blasted with a huge amount of heat. There many different kinds of machines surrounding him, and he noticed that most of the light was being provided by the fires lit to help form the shapes of the metal.

"What can I help you with? You lost?" a large man asked. He was well built and had a short but full black beard. His hair was shaggy but short as well.

 **Gun Vanos Lv 51**

 **Head Blacksmith of Crimson Rain**

"No, Nagato assigned me to become an apprentice blacksmith so I can be useful to the clan." Kain replied.

"You?" Gun scoffed. "You're much too small, I'm not sure you got what it takes. It's hard work."

Kain was a little annoyed by his response. "I got what it takes. What do you want me to do to prove it?"

Still looking down on him, Gun pointed over the huge fire. "I'll show you one of the steps, and if you can get it right before the day is up, I'll take you as an apprentice." They walked over to it. The heat got nearly impossible to stand near. Kain began sweating profusely, but Gun showed no signs of discomfort.

"We'll skip a few steps. What I want you to try to do is to shape this metal into something useful." Gun pointed at a hot piece of metal. He grabbed the end of another that was close by and grabbed a large hammer. He began striking it. Kain watched closely, and he noticed there was a small glow around the hammer. He realized that Gun was releasing a small but steady amount of ki to help guide the process. A few minutes later, Gun had forged a rough shape of a dagger. "This is pretty shitty quality, but at least its an object of use. If you can make another like it, you might not be completely horrible at this. Just don't break any of our shit. If you do, you're paying for it."

Assuming Kain would take quite a while, Gun walked away, leaving him alone. Picking up the hammer and grabbing onto the piece of metal, Kain tried to recreate what Gun did. After a few strikes, the edge of the metal broke. "Shit," Kain muttered under his breath. He retried it, but he broke another piece off. "Okay, small but constant flow of ki..." Kain calmed himself down and slowly let ki go into the hammer. When he struck it again, a notification popped up.

 **Crafting Skill Leveled Up By 1**

"Oh, cool! So doing this is part of my crafting." Kain went back to focusing on the task in front of him.

Nearly an hour later, his crafting skill had raised by 4, but he had yet to form the correct shape. He had started to get it, but it was still being difficult.

"Damn it, this is a lot harder than I thought," Kain said. He set down his equipment and went over to Gun, who was working on something not far away. "Hey, could you-" Kain cut himself when he saw the object Gun was making. It was a beautiful sword, made with pure steel. It had a simple look to it, but it was made with such perfect craftsmanship.

Gun stopped and looked up. "What do you want, brat? Help?" He grinned at his own comment.

"That sword is amazing!" Kain gasped.

"This thing? It's not bad. I could do better. But you won't be able to make anything like this just staring at it! Get back to work and put some damn effort into it." Gun began ignoring him and working on the piece again.

Pulling himself away from the craftsmanship, he went back over to his poorly made piece of metal.

Another hour had passed, and his crafting skill increased four more times. He finally had it shaped like a dagger. He unlocked a blueprint. **Dagger (Poor Quality)** After it had cooled down, Kain brought it over to Gun. Gun held it in his hand and looked it over. "The craftsmanship is pretty shitty, but I suppose you pass. Okay, you can be an apprentice." He shrugged Kain off.

Getting annoyed, Kain spoke. "Hey! I just spent two hours doing that, could you at least teach me something?"

Gun glanced at him with a blank look on his face. "There's a book over there, I don't feel like teaching you right now." He pointed over towards a desk.

"A book?" Kain glanced over towards where he looked. "Who's is it?"

"Mine," Gun replied, barely paying him any attention.

Kain grinned and walked over towards the book. "If he's gonna act like that, then I guess I don't mind doing this," he spoke under his breath as he picked up the book. He learned its contents, destroying Gun's book.

 **Crafting Skill Leveled Up By 5**

 **Blueprints added: 24**

After reading the book, he understood what he was doing wrong when he was creating the dagger. "Damn, I wish I could have learned it before I wasted two hours doing that. Though I guess Gun might have considered it cheating." Kain walked over once more to the fire and decided to forge a sword. It took him another hour, increasing his crafting skill once more, but it was successful. This time he got average quality.

Walking over towards Gun with the sword in his hand, Kain called out to him. "Here, I hope this is good enough for today. By the way, I destroyed your book." He threw that last part in after he had already handed the sword to Gun. He had turned around before he could see Gun's face getting red from anger.

"You brat, that was a good fucking book! I hadn't finished it!" Gun yelled out at Kain, who was already walking towards the exit. He then looked down at the sword that Kain had handed him. "Damn, did that kid really make this? This should take at least a month of training under me. Well, at least this will pay for my book."

Kain walked out the door and headed towards the building that held the alchemy master. After being in the room with the forge for so long, the cool air and the different aromas that came from it nearly shocked his system. "Hello?" he called out as he opened the door.

"Hi there, little one," an older lady replied. She had graying hair and was wearing casual clothes. She was in good shape for obviously being past her 50s.

 **Mira Remin Lv 47**

 **Head Alchemist of Crimson Rain**

She walked towards Kain to greet him, but tripped suddenly and nearly lost her footing. "Ah, clumsy me. So how can I help you?"

"I'm Kain, the clan head approved of me becoming an apprentice." Kain looked at her. She didn't appear to be very powerful, but her level obviously said otherwise.

"Oh are you now? As an alchemist, I presume," she replied, stepping up next to Kain.

"Yep. So how should I start?"

"Well, you're definitely going to need to know some basic mixtures before I let you touch anything. There's some books you can read about it over there." She pointed towards a bookshelf.

"Umm, do you have any copies?" Unlike with the blacksmith, Mira was treating him kindly, and he didn't really want to destroy her only set.

Mira smiled. "I've memorized all of those. You can take them with you if you want for free."

Kain smiled back and walked over to them. He picked up several different ones that she pointed out. "How much do these cost normally?"

"Those are just the very basics, so probably all of those would be about $100,000 Won. But you don't need to pay me."

Though Kain was perfectly willing to pay her for it, after hearing the price, he stuttered. "..$100,000 just for three books?"

She smiled. "You haven't bought much yet have you? Things like that aren't cheap at all. If you bought spell books, I know of some that can reach upwards of a billion won."

Kain's jaw dropped at that. When he recovered, he brought out the money and set it on a table for her. "I know you said I don't have to pay, but since these books aren't gonna last me very long, I feel like I should."

Mira glanced at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

He learned the three books.

 **Crafting Skill Leveled Up By 6**

 **Blueprints added: 31**

"Oh my, that's an interesting technique," said Mira, looking around for any evidence of the books.

"I think I can make some beginner stuff now." Kain said. "I'm glad this is part of my crafting, too. That means doing both alchemy and forging will boost its level," he thought.

"If you're sure." Mira walked away, letting him walk towards the chemicals. She tripped on what appeared to be nothing as she backed up.

Kain made a simple poison. "Good job, Kain." Mira remarked. "If you can make enough money off some of your potions, I'll let you use that skill on the more expensive books." She smiled.

"Oh, I have something I could trade you for," Kain said as he opened his inventory. "Here." He handed her two of the health potions that he had got from the ghost drops.

She inspected them and then smiled. "I don't know how you got these, but you bought yourself two books from the next step up."

Kain walked over and learned those as well, gaining 5 more levels in his crafting and 19 more blueprints.

 **Crafting (Passive) Lv 27**

Creating items from scratch is no easy task.

Success rate is dependent on quality of item

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 22 Exp 0.62%**

 **Health: 290/290**

 **Mana: 630/630**

 **Vit: 29 + 12% + 14%**

 **Str: 34 + 12% + 14%**

 **Dex: 30 + 11% + 12% + 14%**

 **Int: 36 + 12%**

 **Wis: 31 + 12% + 6%**

 **Luk: 2**

 **Points: 100**

 **Money:** **1** **83** **,500 Won**


	11. Chapter 11

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

 **Chapter 11**

* * *

 **The Next Day**

Kain and Murkuro were sparring in the 10x Time Illusion Barrier. Kain had already visited Gun and Mira today. He had created some average swords for Gun and some simple poisons for Mira. His crafting had gone up by another 5 levels.

"You're getting awesome at martial arts," grunted Murkuro as he blocked a hit from Kain.

"Thanks, I do know three kinds," said Kain as he pulled back his fist and quickly spun around to kick Murkuro.

After stopping that hit, Murkuro dropped his guard. "Okay, let's take a quick break."

While they were sitting down, Kain asked Murkuro, "Hey, does Crimson Rain have it's own fighting style? 'Cause when I was talking to Nagato, he said I could be a teacher for beginners."

"Nope, we learn whatever we can. Our clan only has like one hundred members at best, so we haven't had enough martial arts masters to help develop our own style."

"Maybe I can make a style," Kain grinned. "Let me try some stuff."

"Okay, I guess," Murkuro said, smiling as he stood up.

"Okay, I'm gonna try now." Kain dropped into a style similar to Karate.

"That doesn't look any different though," Murkuro said, confused.

"I'm gonna switch it up while in combat, don't worry." Kain rushed forward to attack. He seamlessly switched from his current stance into a Judo stance, surprising Murkuro and throwing him over his shoulder. Murkuro was rotating in midair and barely had time to put his guard up before Kain again seamlessly mixed his stance into Tae Kwon Doe to issue Murkuro a kick to the chest.

"Damn, man. You're mixing high level techniques! You're actually making a martial art," Murkuro said, surprised.

"Let's keep going, maybe I'll unlock a skill." Kain replied.

They continued to fight for a few more minutes and then Kain saw a screen pop up.

 **Due to a special action, a new skill was created. What would you like to name the skill?**

Seeing the pop up, Kain grinned. "Crimson Rain Martial Arts Technique." He pressed the accept button.

 **Crimson Rain Martial Arts Technique Lv 1**

A style created by The Gamer, Kain Rockbear, which fused multiple types of martial art styles

Passively increases Dex by 1%

Murkuro looked at him shocked. "You didn't even ask Nagato if it can be our style."

"Nope. If it turns out to be a bust, I just won't show it to him and keep the technique secret. But I know I'm not going to suggest it until it's at least level 50," replied Kain, returning to his stance.

"You wanna make sure it's well made first, right?" Murkuro asked while preparing himself.

"Yep. That means I need really high levels on all the martial arts that incorporate it as well. So it's time to work it all out."

They fought again. When they finally decided to stop, Kain had raised his new style to level 12 and the others to 21.

"That's a really hard style to keep up against," Murkuro said, panting. "I think I'll have you teach it to me once you level it up enough."

"Sure thing," Kain replied, barely able to keep his breath from the exhaustion. "I'm gonna stay here and grind a few more skills, so I'll talk to you later."

"See ya," Murkuro said. He waved and walked away, albeit slowly after the spar with Kain.

Kain sat down. "Okay, I need to work on my martial arts techniques." He turned on his outer ki technique. "Well, I have plenty of mana left, so I might as well turn on mana shield, too." As his final step, he began using the spirit technique. He only stopped this training to snack on some food that he had in his inventory and to relieve himself. After the day, he had leveled up his spirit technique to level 26, his outer ki technique to 38, and his mana shield to 40.

Before he ended the night off and went home, he decided to do a little bit more training for his ID Create and Escape. When he finally finished that training, he unlocked the 8x Time Illusion Barrier and the Ogre ID, which he promised himself he would try out the next day.

 **The Next Day**

Kain was walking into the clan property early in the morning. Instead of continually telling his mom he was hanging out with Murkuro, he decided to tell her that he was going to stay with him until his dad got back home. He got a slight smile on his face thinking of that. His mom would kill him if she knew what he was doing these days.

He walked into the time illusion barrier room and found a suitable spot. Today was to focus on his level. He opened up the Ogre ID.

They were huge. That was the first thing that registered in his mind. All were somewhere between level 20 and 30, a huge difference compared to the low level ghosts he had been fighting. "Well, I guess we can get started," he said to himself.

Before he did, however, he thought of something. Drops. They'd be much better with the higher level opponents. And from his experience with games, he knew luck played a part on how often and what grade of items dropped.

"Status window," Kain said. He had 100 points that he hadn't used yet. He could do without 20 of those, he had gained way more than that through training his body and mind anyways. He put 20 points into his Luck, bringing it to 22.

"Okay, now it's time to fight!" Kain grinned and rushed forward at blinding speed, instantly turning on his outer ki to the +100 level. He could hold it for an extremely long time now.

The ogres stood no chance. Kain busted through their chests with his bare fists. After taking out probably about 50 of them, he looked to see how much stuff dropped. The difference in quality and amount was incredible. Though he wasn't sure about why some of the items dropped, as they were very unusual.

"Indestructible ogre panties..." Kain couldn't comprehend how ridiculous that was. "Whatever, it'll all be worth a decent amount of money."

He blew through all that were in the barrier. He had lost count, but he guessed he was nearing 500 kills. He had leveled up 3 times. When he finally beat a few more, he heard a humongous roar.

"That's gotta be the boss," Kain said as he turned around to face it.

 **A Really Stupid Demon Lv 42**

Ignoring the ridiculous name, the level looked like it may be an issue. "This could get ugly," Kain said. "Well, I have to try." The ogre had two heads and four arms. All of the four arms held clubs.

Kain rushed it, using both his high outer ki technique and his mana sword. It immediately attacked him, two of the clubs hitting the ground where he was before. Kain rushed up one of its arms and cut through part of its neck. The ogre howled in pain.

One of the heads looked towards Kain and shot fire out of its mouth, burning part of Kain's arm. It wasn't serious, so Kain continued to cut at it. The other head swung around and fired out some sort of gas. "Shit, I don't know what that is," Kain thought as he jumped back to avoid it.

"Okay, mana shield, mana shield." Kain created two shields around him, and the gas couldn't penetrate it. "Time to finish this." Kain rushed up its arm after its next swing again. When he got right up to its head, he faced out his palm. "Mana Beam!" The beam fired straight into the skull of the ogre, causing it hit the ground.

As Kain fell, he aimed himself straight for the chest of the ogre, aiming for the heart. With all his strength behind his foot, he drop kicked the ogre directly where its heart would be, killing it instantly.

 **Level Up!**

"Let's collect all the drops now," Kain said, slightly winded. He walked around, counting everything he found. He was able to find in total 18 indestructible panties, 10 ogre clubs, and 2 special ogre clubs that dropped from the boss. 4 more potions dropped as well from it, and 3,100,000 Won. "Damn, that's quite a lot of stuff! And it all looks worth quite a bit."

He broke the illusion barrier and headed towards Nagato to ask him where to get the stuff appraised and sold. Nagato pointed him the correct direction and soon Kain was walking into a large warehouse building.

"How can I help you?" a younger man asked. He had red hair and a black trench coat on, covering most of his body.

 **Remus Penderall Lv 36**

 **Appraiser of Crimson Rain**

"Hi, I was looking to sell some of the stuff I got."

"Really, what do you got?" Remus asked, interested suddenly.

Kain opened his inventory and pulled out one of the pairs of indestructible panties. "...Well, there's these..."

Remus was much more excited about it than Kain was. "Ooooh, this is a special item. Let me guess, can't take damage while wearing them?"

Kain was surprised. "Yeah. How did you figure that out?"

"Oh, it's just what I'm good at. I'll buy each one of these that you have for 3,000,000 Won, okay?"

"3,000,000! That's so much!" Kain gasped.

Remus chuckled. "You definitely haven't shopped on the Abyss Auction yet, then. An expensive item is about a billion."

Kain was taken aback by that. "That's ridiculous, how can anyone spend that much on just one item?"

Remus replied while continuing to inspect the panties. "The items are ridiculously useful. They can provide huge bonuses of power or wealth or anything else, really. They have items for everything. What else ya got?"

Kain pulled out the next item, the normal ogre club, and handed it to Remus.

"These are really nice, too! Probably about 8,000,000 considering the fee for selling. Where do you get these items?!"

"Um, I get them with my ability by beating monsters in illusion barriers. They're drops," Kain replied, thinking of how much money he was going to make.

"You'll have to show me some time, these items are so unique! What else do you got?"

Kain pulled out the special ogre club, which ended up being worth about 12,000,000. After sellling all of his items, he was able to walk out of there with 158,000,000 Won. The fact that he had just made as much as the yearly income of owners of corporations had completely blown him away.

He walked back to Nagato, and he put 50,000,000 Won on the table. "You might as well raise my minimum, I made this in one day," Kain said blankly, still awestruck.

As was Nagato. "Okay... We'll raise it to 50,000,000 a month. I didn't expect you to be able to make so much so quickly. Only our high level members can make anywhere near this amount."

"Well, my ability is pretty special from what I've heard, so I choose not to be surprised anymore. See ya later."

Kain went and created swords in the blacksmithing area for roughly two hours so he could debate on what he would do next. As he finished yet another sword and raised his crafting skill again (for a total of three times), he decided.

"I think it's time to use my stat points."

He left and opened up another Ogre ID so he could test his power once he changed his stats.

"Here we go," Kain said, taking a deep breath. "Status window."

Deciding on what to do was extremely difficult, but he finally decided.

 **Vit: 50**

 **Str: 65**

 **Dex: 50**

 **Int: 64**

 **Wis: 31**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 0**

 **M** **ana Affinity (Passive)**

10% increase in MP recovery rate

5% increase in total MP amount

5% increase in magic attack and defense

30% increase in MP related skill effects

 **Strong Body (Passive)**

10% increase to physical attack

10% increase to physical defense

Ignore small damage completely

 **Quick Mind & Body (Passive)**

10% increase to reflexes

20% increase to movement speed

 **Longevity (Passive)**

15% decrease in Age Growth after Peak

20% increase in HP

"This is incredible!" Kain exclaimed. "I got a skill for every increase past 50 on my stats. I just got ridiculously overpowered."

He spent the rest of the day destroying Ogres and the Ogre boss repeatedly in his x8 barrier. He gained 5 more levels, 33 more panties, 24 more ogre clubs, and 7 more special ogre clubs. All of those items he decided to sell later, but not today.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 31 Exp 3.49%**

 **Health: 500/500 (+100/100)**

 **Mana: 1190/1190 (+59/59)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 38%**

 **Str: 65 + 26% + 38%**

 **Dex: 50 + 26% + 38% + 21% + 12%**

 **Int: 64 + 26%**

 **Wis: 31 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 25**

 **Money:** **108,** **1** **83** **,500 Won**


	12. Chapter 12

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

If any of you aren't sure of the conversion between won and US $, it's roughly $1=1000 Won.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Kain was sitting inside a building in the clan property using his newly bought computer (1,000,000 Won). He was scrolling through the site that Nagato had shown him, the Abyss Auction. Looking at the front sickened him, as it had a younger woman for sale, and they had not dodged around the question of what she was best used for. If he had been caught by that one guy, would he be on here?

That brought him to his current purpose: to get stronger. He knew he was going to focus on martial arts, but Kain still knew that the best martial artists were versatile. If he could be proficient in something else, he could create a style of fighting that would work best for him.

The first thought that came to his mind was learning elemental powers. He had several ideas for that. Kain had found a cheap spell book that was for learning how to summon an elemental. The description also told him that he could learn the affinity of fire as well. It costed 1,500,000 Won, but he put it in his checkout bin.

Kain also had a plan for his fighting that would involve one more affinity, but this one was much more expensive. For 45,000,000 Won, he put in his checkout bin a spell book to teach him how to manipulate gravity.

Then Kain got a little carried away with elements, since they sounded so cool, and he ended up also putting in his bin books for lightning and wind as well (another 5,000,000).

Browsing the pages, he found one more very useful spell. "Healing, finally," Kain muttered to himself. It was the most expensive book, but it called itself one of the stronger healing spells available in a book. For 50,000,000, he put it in his bin.

As Kain was checking it out, he clicked the button for express delivery, about 300,000 Won, and within ten minutes later, he had the books in his hand. At that time, he noticed that he had accidentally hit the button to purchase the fire elemental book twice. He sighed. "Damn it, that was a waste of money. At least it was only 1,500,0000 and not the 50,000,000 book."

 **Lowest Elemental Summoning (Active) Lv 1**

Max number of spirits that can be summoned: 1

Strongest spirit able to summon: Lowest Elemental Spirit

 **New Status Created: Fire Affinity**

 **New Status Created: Lightning Affinity**

 **New Status Created; Wind Affinity**

 **New Status Created: Gravitational Affinity**

 **Healing of the Sages (Active & Passive) Lv 1**

A spell that can heal and even expand on your well-being with prolonged exposure

User can affect others with it as well

Increases HP by 200 if injured (Quick Spell)

Permanently increases HP slowly with constant use (uses MP/min)

 **New Title Discovered: Elementalist**

Conditions: Learn more than 3 Elemental Affinities

Grants: 5% Resistance to affinities learned, 5% increase to damage of elemental attacks

"Whoa! The healing ability really was worth it! And I got a title?" Kain pressed on it as it popped up, and suddenly it was equipped to him. "Well, since I don't have any others, I might as well leave this one on."

Kain walked into the time illusion barrier that was owned by the clan and proceeded to grind the healing spell for its worth. He didn't have enough mana at first to use both the healing and the summoning, so until about half of the day was over, he hadn't bothered to summon the elemental spirit.

When he finally decided to do so, the experience nearly made him fall unconscious. His mind had been flooded with the thoughts of the spirit. He saw flames licking across his body, feeling as if he was about to burst. When he thought he was about to die, he returned to his normal state.

"I am Tinder, what is your name?" the spirit asked. It appeared as just a flame with a slight humanoid shape. The voice sounded female.

"I am Kain," he replied, in a trance-like state. "As the laws decree, we are now one. Here my name once more. I am Kain."

"I am Tinder. The summoning is now completed."

Tinder disappeared, leaving Kain struggling for breath. "Wow, I thought I was done for." He quickly used the healing spell in hopes to recover. Luckily, it did so, and he was able to continue his training.

For the rest of the day, he was able to hold the summon for Tinder and continue using the healing spell.

 **Healing of the Sages (Active & Passive) Lv 33**

A spell that can heal and even expand on your well-being with prolonged exposure

User can affect others with it as well

Increases HP by 840 if injured (Quick Spell)

Permanently increases HP slowly with constant use (uses MP/min)

Current HP Increase: 1,200

 **Lowest Elemental Summoning (Active) Lv 29**

Max number of spirits that can be summoned: 3

Strongest spirit able to summon: Lowest Elemental Spirit

"I can't believe how effective the healing spell is! It gets more effective as you use it, and I almost tripled by HP," Kain said in amazement.

He went off to sleep in one of the areas that Crimson Rain had for members.

 **The Next Day**

This day was going to be dedicated to testing his proficiency in using elements without help of summonings. Kain used a 3x time barrier and a zombie ID, since the ogres were large and he wanted to check the power of the gravity manipulation before fighting something so large. He only made a 3x time barrier because he had started to notice that his body was aging still in the barriers, so to prevent it from happening as quickly, he decided to start limiting his barrier.

Kain brought along Murkuro and put him in his party. Murkuro was level 29 now, so he had been doing some training while Kain was doing his own.

"So you wanted to show me some new stuff?" Murkuro asked.

"Yeah, yesterday I bought some skill books off the Abyss Auction. Most of them were elemental books, so I wanted to see how well I could use them."

"Elements? Like fire, water, and all that? That stuff is really hard to get!" Murkuro exclaimed.

"Really? They were in the cheaper section of the Abyss Auction," Kain replied, slightly confused.

"Yeah, they take forever to get down. Being able to get an affinity for anything is really difficult. Usually you have to be born with a talent for one to get one without extreme training."

"Oh. Then lucky me, I guess," Kain smiled, shrugging it off. "Here we go," Kain said as the first zombie started coming close to them. Kain searched his body and brought fire from his hand. "Okay, now let's see if I can get it all the way around my fist." After a few more seconds, he had the flame surrounding his hand. "Now, try to make it spin a bit..." Before the zombie reached him, Kain had succeeded. Kain punched it with the hand that was surrounded with spinning flames. The flames burnt straight through the zombie, destroying it instantly.

 **A skill has been created through a special action. What would you like to name the skill?**

Kain thought for a second before speaking. "Fire Fist?"

 **Fire Fist (Active) Lv 1**

A technique to manipulate spinning fire around the fists of the user to create attacks with the burning status effect.

"Lets see how well it works as a skill then, Fire Fist," Kain used the skill. The skill ignited both of his hands instead of just one.

"Awesome!" Murkuro exclaimed. "I wish I could do that, that seems pretty useful."

"Here, I bought an extra book on accident, you can have it. Maybe you can learn it if you study it enough." Kain handed Murkuro the book.

"Whoa!" Murkuro exclaimed.

"What?" Kain said, confused.

"It's...it's giving me a prompt to learn the skill," Murkuro said quietly, amazed.

"Really?! Do it!" Kain yelled out.

Murkuro clicked it, and Kain finally saw how it looked to others when he learned a skill. The book disappeared into shards of light, and Murkuro absorbed those shards. "I...know how to manipulate fire. And how to make a summoning?"

"Try what I just did. And yeah, it was a book for summoning a fire spirit."

Murkuro struggled for longer than Kain did, but soon he had the fire spinning around his fist. "Whoa! This is so weird."

"I know, it's so exhilarating when you learn a new skill," Kain said, grinning. "Well, now you can use fire, and you can summon an elemental if you want to. I just saved you a nice amount of studying."

"This is so incredible!" Murkuro manipulated the fire to shoot off his fist into a zombie about ten meters away.

"Well, if you were me, you probably would have just gotten another skill," Kain laughed. "But it's great that I can teach you it easily like that. Maybe I can be more help to the clan this way. Let's hurry up and finish up my tests so I can go to talk to Nagato."

Murkuro nodded. "If you can do that for everyone, then our clan can become strong much faster."

"Well, I'm gonna check my gravity power really quickly." Kain walked over to another zombie that was slowly walking towards him. Kain focused and could feel the ability to manipulate the area around him. Kain expanded it as far as he could, which was roughly 5 meters away from his body. He slowly increased the gravity around him. Then he noticed it was affecting him, too. "Crap, that won't be beneficial." He thought about it, and with some difficulty, he separated himself from the gravitational pull so his body was the only thing not affected by it in the 5 meters. "Okay, now that I'm clear from it..." He waited until the zombie was within the 5 meters. "I use as much force as I can at once!" Suddenly, the zombie was pushed to the ground. It tried to struggle, but in a matter of seconds, Kain could see its body crumpling inside itself. It died moments later.

 **A skill has been created through a special action.**

 **Gravity Field (Active) Lv 1**

A gravity field that affects everything except the user

Current Reach – 5 meters

Current Change in Gravity - x10

"Well that's effective," Murkuro said, still playing with his new-found fire ability.

"It better be, it cost over 40 million won," Kain said, releasing the gravity.

"Damn, you have that kind of money to blow?" Murkuro said with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't promise anyone my money situation is gonna be okay," Kain smiled. "But I make it just as easy as I spend it, so no complaints here. Let's go talk to Nagato." Kain broke the illusion barriers, and he and Murkuro walked off towards the building Nagato always worked in.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 31 Exp 3.50%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340)**

 **Mana: 1190/1190 (+59/59)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 38%**

 **Str: 65 + 26% + 38%**

 **Dex: 50 + 26% + 38% + 21% + 12%**

 **Int: 64 + 26%**

 **Wis: 31 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 25**

 **Money:** **4** **,** **8** **83** **,500 Won**


	13. Chapter 13

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Murkuro and Kain stood before Nagato, waiting for him to finish the work he was currently on. As he did so, he spoke. "What can I help you two with today?"

"Murkuro has something to show you, and then we wanted to ask how it can affect the clan," Kain replied, gesturing to Murkuro.

Murkuro made sure that he wasn't near anything flammable before summoning flames across his fingertips.

"Interesting, when did you start studying that, Murkuro?" asked Nagato.

"Today, thanks to our very own member, The Gamer," Murkuro replied, grinning.

Noticing the confused look on Nagato's face, Kain elaborated. "We were training, so Murkuro was in my party. I handed him a skill book to study later on since he wanted to learn fire, but my ability kind of expanded to him. Since he was in my party, he was able to treat it like a skill book and learn it immediately."

Understanding dawned on Nagato's face. "So you want to know how you can help the clan by making everybody stronger?"

"Yes," Kain said, excited.

"Okay, this is an extremely large discovery. I'll call a meeting really quickly, come with me."

Within minutes, Nagato had managed to get every member on the property to surround the building they were previously in. The three of them stood on top of the building.

"I bet you're all wondering why I summoned you here. While most of you know, we recently added a new member to our clan, one who had a Shinin rank ability. That member is this young man next to me, Kain Rockbear." Nagato gestured to Kain, who felt awkward being in the center of attention. "He recently discovered something special about his ability. He knew that by buying books that contained spells or techniques, he could learn those techniques immediately by touching them. Some of us have noticed this ourselves." He nodded towards Mira.

"So that's what happened to my book..." Gun muttered under his breath, but still noticed by Kain, who lightly smirked.

"Today, he discovered with another member of our clan, Murkuro, that this ability could be expanded to others. Murkuro, who had no knowledge of how to manipulate fire, took one of Kain's skill books with the intention of learning it the normal way, and he was suddenly prompted to learn the skill." To demonstrate, Murkuro brought fire around his hand.

"Kain wants to help his clan. So I've decided that today will be the first show of that. You all know the website for the Abyss Auction. Some of you are currently studying books right now. You all have one hour to return with skill books. If you do so, Kain will add you to his party, giving you the ability to learn them immediately. This is a very rare opportunity, so bring a lot. The hour starts...now!" Nagato gestured for everyone to be dismissed.

Upon hearing that, the crowd immediately dispersed. Those who had the Abyss Auction app on their phone simply pulled out their phone and typed quickly.

"So I guess we just stand around for an hour and when people come up to me, I add them to my party?" Kain said.

"That's the plan. I might as well participate, too." Nagato winked and suddenly disappeared.

Within the next twenty minutes, a line had started to form. Kain quickly looked at their name and invited them to his party, and then he dismissed them. They would go off to a corner and start pulling out books, learning as much as they could. Nagato was in the line himself, with only a single book. When he got to the front of the line, he spoke to Kain. "I've been trying to learn this skill for years, so this ability really is a blessing to me. Thank you, Kain. You're helping the whole clan grow."

Embarrassed, Kain just nodded. Murkuro was in the line as well, and he held three books. "What do you got, Murkuro?" asked Kain.

"Well, I remember asking you to eventually teach me that Crimson Rain Martial Arts Technique," Murkuro replied, winking. "So I figured I should learn those three martial arts that make it."

Kain grinned at that and quickly invited him. Roughly an hour later, everyone was finally in his party. Kain lied down. "That was kind of tiring."

 **New Title Discovered: Army Man**

Conditions: Have over 50 people in a party at once

Grants: 10% Boost to Exp while in a party

"Oh, that's nice! I'll have to equip that next time I train with Murkuro."

After about fifteen more minutes had passed, everyone had finished learning their books. A few people had been disappointed on several of them, discovering that they had not had the stats to learn the skill immediately. Overall, however, everyone had gained a lot of new skills.

"I'll call you all again when we decide to do it next time, but don't rely on it!" Nagato addressed the crowd of members. "You're all dismissed."

Kain ended the party. "Okay, it's time to get back to my training for the day."

"I'll come with you." Murkuro walked up to him. "I'll have to train these new martial arts a bit, plus I still have to work with my fire techniques."

"Sure," Kain smiled. "Let's go then." They walked off to return to the area they were at. Kain summoned a 3x time barrier and then summoned an Ogre ID. "We'll raise the difficulty a bit."

Before fighting, Kain equipped the new title he got. Then, they tried out their new skills. Kain continued to test his gravity technique. It had a similar effect on the ogres. They were heavier, so the effect was greater on them. However, they usually didn't die immediately from it.

Kain wanted to expand on the uses for his gravity. "Maybe I can change it the other way, so there's less gravity." He started focusing across his body and his body alone. He changed the gravity affecting his body to near nothing. He jumped up, and his body kept going up for a long time before Kain recognized the danger and released the spell. He quickly fell back down.

 **Weight Manipulation (Active) Lv 1**

Changes weight of the user's body according to what the user wishes using gravity.

"Wouldn't I be able to use that for training, too?" Kain thought. He slowly added weight to his body, nearly tripling what it was before. He walked around for a bit. "Oh, I definitely could train my strength with this." Kain grinned.

Then a thought came into his mind. He had an affinity with wind as well. If he lowered his weight considerably, couldn't he...fly? Kain made his weight one-tenth of what it was before. He would have to focus on using the wind to carry him. By jumping, he has no control, since the difference in weight. He began to control the air around him. He slowly was able to lift himself up. "Okay, now let's try moving around." He began pushing the air around him so he could travel in directions of his choice.

 **Flight (Active) Lv 1**

Using Weight Manipulation and wind affinity, The Gamer created a flight technique

It was slow at first, but after it had leveled up several times, it had grown easier. It was hard on his mana at first, but soon it was just a slight burden.

"Now let's use it in combat!" Kain flew towards an ogre. He flew right above it. It didn't notice him. He angled himself down and changed the weight manipulation to x10 weight. He flew down at an incredible speed. Upon impact, he destroyed the ogre instantly, going straight through it.

"Damn, you just keep thinking up new things, don't you?" yelled out Murkuro, who had been practicing the technique Kain had made earlier, Fire Fist.

"You've made a few things yourself, I noticed that big wall of flame you made," remarked Kain. Murkuro had been getting really proficient in using fire. Kain could probably do it, too, but he was focusing more on the gravity power at the moment.

"You know, your ability really is amazing. Our clan is gonna have to keep secret that you can teach others abilities immediately. You'd be in more trouble than you are now." Murkuro grimaced at that. "We obviously don't want that."

"At least I stand a better chance than I used to," replied Kain, who was flying not far away from Murkuro. "There's really no point stressing about it. If it happens, there's not much we can do to prevent it. I'll just have to get strong enough to hold my own against the hunters."

"I'll be right there to back you up," Murkuro stated, bringing out fire onto his hand, his aura growing around him.

"I'm glad you will," Kain said, grinning. "Let's train a bit longer."

Kain and Murkuro both leveled up once and Kain was able to level up his gravity techniques and flight quite a bit. Near the end of his training, he got another notification.

 **Gravitational Affinity has raised to 2**

"Oh, I didn't know my affinities had a number, too. I guess it makes sense, though." Kain decided to see if it had affected his Gravity Field at all. He flew over to a stray ogre, one of the few that were remaining. As soon as he activated the technique, the ogre was destroyed by the pressure. "Oh," Kain stated simply. "That definitely got stronger."

They left the illusion barriers for the day. Kain and Murkuro said their good byes for the day, and Kain decided to spend the rest of the day with Mira, creating potions. He was able to raise his crafting some more, and he was able to make some basic healing potions as well.

Before he fell asleep for the day, he got a text from his mom saying that his dad was coming home tomorrow, so Kain should try to be there to greet him. Kain smiled, he hadn't seen his dad in forever. He was a serious guy usually, but he noticeably cared about their family.

 **The Next Day**

Kain had walked home after saying good bye to Murkuro and Nagato, saying he'd be back as soon as he could. When he reached home, he saw his mom waiting outside. "Waiting for dad, mom?"

"You know it, honey. I haven't seen him just as long as you haven't. I can't wait," she smiled to him. "Wanna sit with me?"

"Sure," Kain replied. He sat down in a nearby chair. "So how has your week been?"

"Oh, same old, same old. I just worked and then I hung out with some of the girls. How was your week with Murkuro?"

"Pretty good. We mostly just stayed around his property," Kain said with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, you seem a bunch better than you did not long ago." A couple seconds passed and then his mom spoke again. "Find a girlfriend yet?"

"What?" Kain said, surprised. "No."

"And why not? I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could get yourself a cute one. You're a nice guy."

"Quit it, mom," Kain said, embarrassed.

"I'm just teasing," his mom said, laughing lightly. "Oh, he's here!"

Sure enough, when she said that, a car was pulling in. They both ran up to it, excited to see Kain's father. The door opened up slowly, and inside Kain could hear his voice. "Honey, I'm home," his dad said in a joking manner. A second later, he was visible. He was immediately tackled into a hug by Kain's mom. "Guessing you missed me, huh?" He kissed the top of her head. "Where's Kain at?" He didn't get a response from anyone, so he just glanced around until he saw his son. "Hey, how have you been?"

"G...good." Kain said slowly. He was having trouble getting words out, but it wasn't because of his dad finally returning. Looking upwards, he saw something above his father's head.

 **Himamura Rockbear Lv ?**

 **The Illusionist of the Abyss**

* * *

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 32 Exp 0.88%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340)**

 **Mana: 1190/1190 (+59/59)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 38%**

 **Str: 65 + 26% + 38%**

 **Dex: 50 + 26% + 38% + 21% + 12%**

 **Int: 64 + 26%**

 **Wis: 31 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 30**

 **Money:** **6** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**


	14. Chapter 14

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

Edit: Sorry, had to change the ending stat points. The thing is accident-prone with copy and paste

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

"What's wrong?" Kain's dad asked, frowning.

"U..Um, nothing. Sorry." Kain was finally recovering from the shock, probably due to Gamer's Mind. "How was your trip?" he asked.

"Not bad, but it was boring. And of course I missed you two." He continued to hold Kain's mom.

"I have to talk to him about this as soon as possible," Kain thought. "Let's all go inside."

They went inside their house and sat down. For a while the parents talked back and forth, talking about what had happened since he had been gone. "Kain got a new friend," his mom stated after a while, trying to bring Kain back into the conversation.

"Did you now? How's that been going?" Himamura was well aware that his son had been bullied constantly throughout his life. That was why he had taught him how to fight a little.

"Good. I hung out with him for most of this week before you got home," Kain replied, trying to act normal.

"Have you had any trouble while I was gone?" Himamura asked, hinting towards the bullies.

Kain caught the hint. "Last time I saw them, they were on the ground and I walked home without a scratch."

Himamura was pleasantly surprised. "Gotten stronger, have you?"

Kain's mom spoke up then. "He joined the martial arts club, too. He joined late in the school year, but I think he learned some from it."

"Really?" his dad responded. "Well, I might just have to test you, then." Himamura grinned.

"I'd like that. You wanna do it today?" Kain responded, seeing a chance to talk to him alone.

"Hell, let's do it now!" The response from Himamura made Kain's mom shake her head.

"You boys. If you're gonna go do that, go outside. I'll get started on something to eat," his mom said, not bothering to stop them.

The two of them walked outside into their backyard. Kain made sure no one was able to see them, including his mother.

"So what style did you learn?" Kain's dad asked, stretching lightly.

"A few," Kain said distantly. "You ready?" After seeing his dad nod, he raised his palm into the air. An illusion barrier surrounded the backyard, separating them from the outside world.

Instantly his dad was serious. "What have you learned?"

"I've learned of the Abyss, dad. I gained an ability. And I can tell you're from the Abyss as well. I can even tell you that you're called the Illusionist."

"How do you know all of that?" Himamura was defensive.

"Because of my ability. I can treat the world as if it's a game. I have a level, and I can see the name above your head."

Hearing that made Himamura relax a little. "Well, at least I know you're not an imposter. Only my son would get an ability to treat the world like a game. How do you know of the Abyss, though? What's happened?"

Kain told him everything that has happened up to now and described his ability in detail. "The Crimson Rain, huh. They're a nice clan. I'm glad you chose to help them over others. I personally work alone," his dad responded.

"Do they know you then? Wouldn't they have recognized my last name?" Kain asked.

"Just like you said, I'm the Illusionist. They don't know my real appearance or identity. No one in the Abyss does. Well, I guess except you. And before you ask, yes, that's my job. My trips are for the Abyss. That's why we've never had to worry about money. I'm sure you've discovered how much money can be made in the Abyss."

"I'm actually surprised we're not rich considering that I can't even see your level," Kain replied. "That means you're ridiculously powerful."

Himamura chuckled a little at that. "Well, I'm glad you think so. But I guess we should hurry up if your mom isn't going to get suspicious."

"Oh, don't worry about that. This is a time illusion barrier, it slows the time by 10." Kain had leveled up his barrier some more earlier in preparation for harder training.

"Then I guess we have a little bit of time. I want to see all of what you learned." Himamura dropped into a martial arts stance. "Whenever you're ready. And you don't need to hold back."

"Okay, let's do it." Kain dropped into a stance as well. His aura spiked, immediately going into the outer ki technique. His dad matched it. Kain rushed forward, using the style he had made. His dad was blocking each attack perfectly.

"Very good! But you're still holding back. You told me about some of your other skills, show them to me." Himamura's aura grew, pushing Kain back.

"If you're sure you'll be okay, then I will!" Kain used the Gravity Field, and the air around them grew heavy, but Himamura showed no sign of discomfort. Kain summoned Tinder, who immediately attacked with fire attacks. Similarly, Kain began using Fire Fist.

Kain rushed forward, attacking again. His dad's defenses turned into a shadow like blur, and none of Kain's attacks reached him. "Very good! This could beat many in the Abyss. You've learned a lot while I've been gone." Kain's mana was dropping with the use of so many techniques, but he continued to fight for a while longer. When he finally gave up on fighting at this level, he decided to go to the limit of his mana. He increased his outer ki technique.

 **Increased output, Str + 150, Dex + 150**

He rushed one last time and attacked. When Himamura blocked the hit this time, he noticed that Kain hadn't attacked with his fist, but his palm. "Mana Beam!" The attack blasted out, the blast being the size of Himamura's body. When the blast cleared, Kain's dad was nowhere to be found. Kain quickly glanced around.

"Right behind you." Kain swung around to see his dad standing there, smiling. "You've grown incredibly strong. That last attack was incredible. And I'm glad you didn't choose to focus specifically only on martial arts or magic and chose to mix it together. It's a much harder route when you decide to focus on one or the other."

"You didn't get hit even once," Kain said in between breaths. "You're incredible."

"That's what happens when you fight for a living. I've trained my body to its peak and I've gained experience in battles that have made me able to predict people. If you continue to fight in the Abyss, you'll most likely reach this point, too. Especially since I don't have a special ability."

"It's... frightening." Kain said. "I've been treating my life as a game as best I could. But seeing you, and seeing I still can't even touch some people... It's frightening. I don't want to die in the Abyss."

Himamura put a hand on Kain's shoulder. "I'll make sure that never happens. I understand that you're scared. I was, too. It's too late for you to leave the Abyss, but you have the potential to get extremely stronger. And I'll protect you the whole way." He ruffled Kain's hair. "I have plenty of money now, so I won't need to leave again. We can work together." Himamura broke Kain's illusion barrier and led him inside.

"So how did it go?" Kain's mom asked.

"It was interesting," Himamura replied. "I'm thinking of taking Kain for a camping trip tomorrow."

"Really?" his mother scorned Himamura. "You just got here and you're already taking off. At least you're taking him with you, I guess."

"Sorry hun. We can go on a camping trip next," he winked towards her, making her giggle.

"I don't want to know what you meant by that," Kain muttered, grossed out.

After they ate, his dad pulled Kain to the side. "Tomorrow we're going to train all day. And it's going to be in my illusion barrier, which is not going to be easy. It's the only one I can make, and it's meant for someone fairly stronger than you are."

Considering his dad's level was well over his, Kain was slightly frightened by the thought. "If they're meant for someone of your level, I'm doomed."

"They're a little lower than that, don't worry. You should be able to manage with a little help. But it won't be easy."

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the family.

 **The Next Day**

Kain and his dad were standing in the middle of an empty forest. "I think this is a clear enough area," his dad said. "I've never had a need for it, so I never learned it, but time would be useful. Wanna create a time barrier?"

"Sure," Kain replied. He raised his hand and created a 10x time illusion barrier.

"All right, my turn." Himamura raised his hand this time, and another illusion barrier was created. Suddenly, they were surrounded by creatures that were similar to shadows. "This is where I learned the technique I used to block your attack. These creatures all have the ability to block you. The only way to beat them is through breaking their mind, which I do, or using a purely mana-based attack, which you used against me."

Kain looked above their heads to see their info.

 **Shadow Creature Lv 74**

"They're...they're over twice my strength." Kain backed away from them.

"That's why I'm going to help you defeat them. Don't worry, I won't let you get seriously hurt. I'm your dad after all. Now attack them."

Gulping, he raised his palm outwards to them. "Mana Beam!" The huge blast fired out, but they simply dodged it and started advancing slowly.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that! These creatures aren't dumb, they dodge and actually think."

"I can't hit them with that attack if they are going to just move around like that!" Kain thought for a second. Then he used his outer ki technique and activated his mana sword. "This'll work." His dad nodded in appreciation.

"That's a much better idea. If you get a chance, you can attack with the beam attack, but your specialty is definitely up front and personal. I'll protect you from any attacks for now."

Kain ran forward at the creatures. He swiped at the first one as he came up to it. The creature jumped back, avoiding it. The others were suddenly blocked off by a large black wall. "One at a time for now," Kain heard his dad yell out.

The fight went on for a very long time. Kain would swipe at it with his sword, but it would dodge and then attempt a counter attack, which was only blocked by a wall of shadows caused by his dad. It breathed out a black smog at one point, which made Kain's dad push Kain far away from it, making him wait for it to disperse. "Trust me, you don't want to breathe that in," he had said seriously. Finally, after what felt like forever, Kain was able to get a small cut on the creature. It screeched and attacked him more ferociously. The black shadows that defended Kain suddenly washed over the creature holding it down. "Kill it," his dad said. Kain stabbed it where the heart would be, and the shadow monster disappeared.

 **Level Up!**

"Twenty-three times. That's how many times you would have died had I not been protecting you," Himamura said as he walked up to Kain. "All of that for one scratch."

"It's way stronger than me! What do you expect?" Kain defended himself.

"So if you fight a stronger person in the Abyss, do you just assume you have no chance?" his dad retorted. "That's how you die for real."

Kain dropped his gaze. "But how do I beat these things?"

Himamura replied, "Experience. You need to learn how these creatures fight. These guys are much closer to humans in how they fight compared to what you've been fighting until now. You'll actually have to pay attention to it's movements and be prepared for the unexpected. The increase in level is nice, but that's not the real purpose to this. It's so you can get practice in predicting your opponent's next attack."

"I've already done some of that with Murkuro," Kain responded.

"To a point, yes. But how do you counter something that fights in a completely different style than him? Each of these monsters fights differently than the other. You can't get used to one style."

Kain nodded. "Okay. I'll fight at my current strength."

"Good. We'll keep going then." Himamura let the next come into the barrier.

This method of fighting continued for about three hours, leaving Kain tired. He had leveled up four more times, but he wasn't allowed to use the stat points since he had to fight at his current strength. He had started to get a hang of it though. The next fight gave him a new technique.

 **Through a high Intelligence and a special action, a new skill has been created**

 **Precognition (Passive) Lv 1**

Ability to see slight glimpses of the future. Channeling it is a very difficult task, however

The next couple of fights were a little easier, but not by a lot. The level of precognition went up by one, and he had leveled up again.

"You're starting to get a hang of it," Himamura stated. "You would have only died twice that match, and you were actually successful in striking a killing blow."

"Gee, thanks." Kain didn't like the thought that he would still die if he fought them alone.

By the time the first day inside the illusion barrier was finished, Kain had leveled up eleven times total and precognition had rose to level 9. The creatures had dropped a lot of money as well, which Himamura was surprised about. "Damn, I wish they would have done that for me when I trained in here. I wouldn't have had to do all those things for the Abyss."

"Okay, if you want, you can use your stat points now." Himamura said. "It'll be the only time I let you for the rest of our training, so choose what you increase wisely."

Kain knew exactly what he would need for the battle. He had 85 points to spare. He put 50 into his Dex, raising it to 100, and 19 into his Wis, raising it to 50. He still had 16 points left, so he chose to save them. "I need speed and wisdom for this kind of training, there's no doubt about that."

 **Speed of Gods (Passive)**

30% increase to movement speed

20% increase to reflex speed

 **Wizard's Wisdom (Passive)**

100% increase to speed of brain

50% increase to speed of anterior cingulate cortex

"What in the world is the anterior cingulate cortex?" Kain asked out loud.

"It's a part of your brain that focuses on decision making," his dad said casually.

"How do you know that?" Kain asked.

"I know a lot of things," Himamura smiled. "Ready for more training?"

Kain nodded.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 43 Exp 2.75%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340)**

 **Mana: 1190/1190 (+59/59)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 40%**

 **Str: 65 + 26% + 40%**

 **Dex: 100 + 26% + 40% + 26% + 15%**

 **Int: 64 + 26%**

 **Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 16  
**

 **Money:** **84** **6** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**


	15. Chapter 15

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

"You're too fast," Himamara said, shaking his head. Kain had just beat another of the shadow creatures, but it was much easier now since the creatures couldn't keep up with his speed.

"That makes sense, since I probably got around four times as fast," Kain said, shrugging. "I doubled the amount of points that were in it, and I'm getting over a 100% increase to my Dex stat with passive effects."

"Well, it's all good for you in the long run, but it ruins the point of this training. With how it's currently going, you'll just best them in a match of speed and beat them before they can do anything about it. That's not really testing your experience in battle." Kain's dad sighed. "I'm not sure how we can fix that. I could have you fight more, but I was going to work up to that with you still having a lower speed."

Kain got an idea. "I can make myself slower." He activated his weight manipulation technique, making his body three times as heavy as before. "Let me fight one, let's see if this is far enough or too much."

Himamura released one from his large wall of shadows. "Okay, let's see if your idea will work." Kain and the shadow creature began to fight. Kain was unable to win immediately like he had been and went back to using his experience in battles to dodge and attack effectively. "Good! It worked." His dad smiled. "Though I'm impressed with the speed difference from just a bit of points."

After defeating the opponent, which took a while considering Kain was still learning how to predict attacks, Kain replied. "Well, I did put ten levels worth of points into that one stat. And with the spirit technique and outer technique I have, along with the multiple martial arts that involve using your feet in combat often, give me pretty nice bonuses. My strength and vitality are way higher than their base stat, too, but not as much as my dexterity."

"Well, that's definitely a good thing for you. And very nice job with that one, I didn't have to save you. You're finally able to kill one without being killed." Himamura grinned at Kain.

"Good," Kain laughed. "I was getting sick of 'dying' so much."

"We'll spend the rest of today doing this same thing and then tomorrow you can graduate to fighting them in bulk. Depending on your growth today, I might even let you do it without the restrictions you put on yourself."

Kain was growing a lot from these matches. During his matches, his strength went up from the weight manipulation three times. By the end of the day, he had leveled up another nine times, leveled up his precognition skill by eight, and got some drops.

"What is this stuff?" Kain asked his dad as he picked up a silk that one of the creatures had dropped.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like a cloth for making clothes. It definitely is an irregular object, though." His dad critiqued it. "Probably worth about a billion won."

"A billion!" Kain gasped. "Observe."

 **Shadow Silk**

A cloth shaped by the shadows themselves

Assassination techniques +50% effectiveness

MP Regen +50/min

"It's pretty useful," Kain remarked. "But I don't really plan on assassinating anyone, so it won't be really useful to me." He stored it in his inventory with the plan to sell some and give the rest to the clan.

During the rest of the day, he gained a considerable amount of money and also fifteen more of the silks.

While they were resting up outside of the Shadow Creature illusion barrier, Himamura decided the next day was going to be the last day of training for now. "You're getting a really good grasp on this. Tomorrow, I'll have you fight the group with no restrictions, mainly just for experience points. You're still a lower level than them, so it shouldn't be hard to get a few more out of them. You've gotten good at adapting to other fighting styles, so I don't doubt that you'll be able to hold your own now in a fight."

"Thanks dad, for the help I mean." Kain gave his dad a quick smile.

Himamura grinned. "Any time, kid. Maybe one of these days, when you get to my level, I'll teach you my style of fighting, too. You can learn it from skill books, so maybe I'll start writing out all of my different skills and how to use them. It'd be nice to pass something on. I'm sure it'll be easy for you to learn after you develop your own style."

"I'm working on that," Kain said. "I think I'm going to focus on gravity manipulation as much as possible. I'll mostly be an elemental fighter."

"Shadows could be considered an elemental technique, too," his dad winked. "It's always good to know a lot for different situations. Just never rely on one thing too much, because as soon as it's countered, you'll be screwed."

 **The Next Day of the Illusion Barrier**

"All right, Kain, go get 'em!" Himamura dropped the barrier that had been protecting them while they had been getting ready. Dozens of shadow creatures rushed from behind it, ready to attack.

"Okay!" Kain rushed forward, using his Mana Sword to cut through them. It wasn't an easy fight even with a huge advantage of speed. They were intelligent enough to fight together. Kain was dodging at full speed while hitting whenever he saw a chance. Himamura was watching intently, making sure that none of them were about to sneak a hit in.

After Kain had defeated about fifteen of them, a large wall of shadows appeared behind his back. "One nearly got you, make sure to always keep your eyes on your surroundings!" Kain heard his dad shouting.

"Okay, dad!" He shouted back, attacking them with increased vigor.

He had blown through them, leveling up six times, when a large shadow raised above him again. Assuming it was his dad protecting him, he neglected to look, but instead just chided himself for messing up again.

A second later, his whole back was cut open, bleeding profusely.

Kain hit the ground, and he was instantly surrounded by a wave of shadows from his dad. "That wasn't my shadow, Kain," his dad said darkly.

Kain quickly used his healing spell to prevent the bleeding, knowing his health had just dropped significantly. He flipped over onto his back so he could see his attacker.

 **Demon of the Shadows Lv 105**

"Oh, shit, I'm nowhere near ready for that," Kain said, worried.

"I am," his dad said, his eyes blazing with fury from it attacking his son. "How dare you attack him so unfairly like that."

The creature laughed. It had a deep voice. It was somewhat humanoid from its waist up, with a demonic face, however. Below its waist was closer to a horse's body. In its two hands, it held two broadswords, one dripping in blood. Kain's blood.

"Like I give a shit about him." It laughed again. "I am a Demon! Who dares summon me here without a contract?"

"I think it's my fault, dad. He must be the boss for this area," Kain said, watching it carefully.

"I guessed so. Then that means I have to beat him, then." Himamura walked calmly towards the demon.

"A human? Defeat me?" The demon laughed at Himamura before swiping his right arm towards him. A second later, the same arm that had been attacking Himamura was lying on the ground not far from him.

"You sure you should be laughing, demon?" Himamura said with malice in his voice.

The demon screeched, and then blew a blast of shadows from its mouth towards Himamura. Himamura simply raised his hand, and the shadows seemed to bend to his will, going around Himamura's body and back at the demon. The attack struck it in its chest. "How can you do such things, I control the shadows!"

"There are many stronger than you who hold the same power. Instead of wasting your time gloating, devote your time to training. Back in the realm of demons." Kain's dad summoned a wave of shadows as tall as a skyscraper, bringing it down on top of the demon. The shadows opened up slightly, letting the head of the demon be seen. The demon was nearly dead. "Kain, you can finish him. You'll get experience for it."

"Um, okay." Kain had been amazed at the show of strength from his dad. Even after all of the levels he had gained, he was still unable to see his dad's level. "Mana Beam!" The beam struck the demon's head, finishing it.

 **Level Up! Level Up!**

"Sorry about not being able to protect you there, he surprised me," his dad said, ashamed.

"It's fine, dad. It was my fault, I should look no matter what. I'm surrounded by shadow creatures, I should have expected at some point an attack from a bigger shadow. It's kind of surprising that it brought something that was actually intelligent enough to the point that it talked, though. I haven't had that happen yet."

"Yeah, he's one of the many demons this world contains. I didn't expect him to show up either. We'll just have to be more careful if we are gonna train here again."

Kain nodded. "Well, he most likely dropped some stuff, so let's look at that."

They walked up to where the demon had been defeated and there were several things lying on the ground in the spot. "Plenty of money, of course," his dad said. "I wish these things would have dropped money for me when I was doing this stuff, I would never had left home."

There were five high grade potions as well. "These are much better than the ones I'm used to getting," Kain remarked. "They heal 5,000 HP immediately. That's more than I even have."

Finally, Kain picked up jagged katana that had a hilt that seemed covered in the shadow silk that they had found multiple times. "Observe."

 **Sword of the Shadows**

Requirements: Str- 50, Dex- 50, Int- 50

Automatically activates Shadow Burst upon use

Can be used to summon 2 Shadow Creatures (stab into ground)

50% increase to attack damage with swords

25% increase to attack damage with spells

Can be automatically summoned to owner by raising hand and stating "Release the Shadows"

"This sword is incredible!" Kain shouted.

"Yeah, it's definitely worth at least ten billion won," Himamura said, nodding in appreciation.

"I wonder what Shadow Burst is," Kain thought out loud. Kain faced the weapon away from Himamura and himself and swung it. A burst of black came from the blade, traveling far away from them.

"That looks useful," Kain's dad remarked. "You gonna keep it?"

"I think so," Kain replied. "I'm gonna try one more thing." He put the blade into his inventory and then raised his hand. "Release the shadows." The blade suddenly appeared in his hand. "Nice! Yeah, I'm definitely keeping it."

"Okay, are you ready to go then?" Himamura asked.

"I think I'm gonna use my stat points really quickly.

 **Vit: 50**

 **Str: 115**

 **Dex: 100**

 **Int: 115**

 **Wis: 50**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 3**

 **Medium Mana Capacity (Passive)**

An ability given to the few mana users that are born with an exceptional ability to handle mana

15% increase to damage of attacks that use mana

Mana used for spells is reduced

 **Mana Regeneration (Passive)**

An ability only given to those of special heritage that causes an increased speed in mana regeneration

100% increased mana regeneration

 **Since your Int has passed 100, you receive a skill related to your brain functions**

 **Psychokinesis (Active) Lv 1**

A skill that uses the power of the brain to move objects

 **Herculean Body (Passive)**

Increases HP by 25%

Increases physical attack damage by 25%

Increases physical defense by 25%

Ignores damage of attacks that do little damage

"Awesome, I got a bunch of skills again! I love passing 100." Kain smiled. "I wonder since I already have strong body, the damage ignored will be increased or just stay the same."

"Well, you just got way stronger again." Himamura smiled at his son. "You'll be near my level soon enough."

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 60 Exp 18.35%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340 +425/425)**

 **Mana: 1700/1700 (+85/85)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 40%**

 **Str: 115 + 26% + 40%**

 **Dex: 100 + 26% + 40% + 26% + 15%**

 **Int: 115 + 26%**

 **Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 3**

 **Money:** **2,41** **6** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**


	16. Chapter 16

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

A few days had passed since the day of training that Kain had went through with his dad. He had done a little training of his own to raise some of the techniques that use mana, but he had mostly taken the days off. As it was, Kain figured he should stop in at the clan and sell his new products and help out either Gun or Mira.

He passed through the same alley that he had been attacked in before. "This brings back bad memories," Kain murmured, grimacing. He had almost died that day.

As if it was history repeating itself, a couple seconds had passed and then Kain was attacked. However, Kain was much stronger than before. He heard the attack coming and instantly put on a mana shield and used the outer ki technique immediately, facing his enemy. Or enemies apparently, as he noticed three people standing there.

"Why is this the only place anyone attacks me?" Kain said to himself, angry. He looked at the level of his opponents. Two of them were in their high 30s, and the one who seemed to be the leader of the group was level 45.

"Finally, we got you alone!" The leader sneered at him. His name was Kabuto Magaski. The other two appeared to be brothers, both having the same last name. Their names were Dan and Dusk. "You've no idea how much work it took to get you by yourself. That damn Crimson Rain clan really wants you safe."

"If you leave now, I won't have to hurt you," Kain said darkly. "I can tell already that I'm significantly stronger than all of you. You don't want to get involved." He was fifteen levels ahead of the leader, so he felt like he had a right to say that he was stronger.

The leader laughed at him. "You nearly died to one of my underlings not that long ago! We had helped him break into this area, this time we were able to bring the whole group. I heard about what happened."

"I'm very different now." Kain slowly applied pressure from his gravity field. "I hope you're ready, then." Without warning, he used his gravity field at the max, instantly pushing the brothers to the ground. Kabuto struggled to stand up.

After a few seconds, the brothers recovered and attacked Kain in unison. "We'll kill you right here and now! You still have use even dead!" Kain dodged them nearly effortlessly. After dodging a few more punches from each, he quickly slid behind them and knocked them away.

"You're fighting a losing battle," Kain warned them.

"It's like he can tell what we're about to do before we even do it," Dusk muttered to the other. They raised their outer ki to what appeared to be the max for them. A second later, they rushed him again, but the same thing occurred.

"I don't have time for you guys." They prepared to attack Kain again, but suddenly Kain disappeared. "Like I said, you're not strong enough," Kain said from behind them. He quickly hit Dan in his neck, immediately making him fall unconscious.

Dusk started to turn around, anger on his face. "You hurt my br-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence before Kain drove his leg into the man's stomach.

"There, now it's just you and me, Kabuto." Kain prepared himself for another fight.

"Fine, bring it on," Kabuto replied, raising his guard. "I'm not as weak as them, I guarantee that." Kabuto rushed Kain, attacking him with lightning fast techniques. Kain struggled for a second before he got used to his speed. Then Kain was able to block his attacks perfectly. Kain struck Kabuto in his chin, sending him reeling.

"You're right, but I still recommend you leaving with your team before my clan gets here. I don't think they'll be as kind as I am." Kain hoped he would listen. He had heard of what Crimson Rain will do for information, and he had stayed as far away from them as possible.

"There's no need, I'll beat you long before they get here!" Kabuto powered up, his ki raising high above him. When attacking, suddenly lighning surrounded him, shocking Kain when they were close together. Kain pushed him away.

"That's a bit dangerous," Kain said, jumping back. "Fine, if he's going to fight at that level, so will I." Kain used his Fire Fist technique, his hands bursting into red hot flames. They began fighting again, Kain dodging the lightning attacks as best he could and getting in small hits when he noticed a chance. Kain swung his arm directly at Kabuto's chest. Kabuto tried to dodge, but his foot slipped, causing him to fall into it.

"No!" Kain thought. "If he falls onto it, the blast will go through him!" Kain tried to retract his hand, but it was too late. A moment later, Kabuto was screaming in agony, a gaping hole in his stomach. "Shit, I have to save him!" Kain got ready to use his healing spell on Kabuto when suddenly, Kabuto stopped screaming. Kain used the spell, but got no response.

"Heal! Heal!" Kain didn't want to face the truth. He couldn't be dead. Not by his hands. "Damn it, heal!" But Kabuto didn't get up.

Kain had killed someone.

Kain sat down, shaking. His mind wouldn't let him become hysterical, but he was horribly shocked at what just happened. "I killed someone," he said blankly. "I killed someone." He looked down at his hands. They were covered in splattered blood, darkened by the heat that had been active when he struck Kabuto.

He lost track of time, sitting there, staring at his hands.

Eventually, he was surrounded by his clan members, who had been tracking down the attackers. Murkuro was among them. He made sure the two unconscious brothers were tied up and after doing that, Murkuro walked over to Kain, who was still sitting down, staring at his hands. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked, sitting down next to him.

Kain continued staring at his hands, not saying a word. Murkuro nudged him. Kain muttered something, but Murkuro wasn't able to hear what he said. Murkuro leaned in closer. "What was that?"

"I killed him." Murkuro heard him clearly that time. He glanced over to the other attacker, who was lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

"You were protecting yourself. You did what you had to do," Murkuro replied, putting his arm on Kain's shoulder.

"No. I could have just knocked him unconscious like the others. He was weaker than me. But I killed him instead." Kain's eyes never left his bloodied hands.

Murkuro sighed and looked down at Kain's hands. He took off his coat and put it on top Kain's hands so he couldn't see them. "I first killed somebody three years ago. Just like you, I was devastated. Taking another person's life is never easy. But you have to remember the world you're living in. Before these guys reached you, they killed a member of our clan. The man I killed had killed my mother."

Kain looked up at him, surprised. "Your mother's d-... You lost your mother?"

"Yeah." A sad smile appeared on Murkuro's face. "She was a great person. And one of the things she taught me in life is to not dwell on things. If something bad happened, do your best to move on and continue to live your life to its fullest."

"But... what if you can't? I've never felt like this."

Murkuro smiled at him. "That's why you have people to support you. Come on, let's go back to the clan." Murkuro helped him Kain up and they walked back to the clan together.

Kain didn't do anything for the rest of the day. He hung out with Murkuro for a while, who continued to try to cheer him up. Murkuro walked him home later, and his dad talked with Kain.

He eventually was able to get past the situation, but it was something he knew would always stay with him.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 60 Exp 18.35%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340 +425/425)**

 **Mana: 1700/1700 (+85/85)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 40%**

 **Str: 115 + 26% + 40%**

 **Dex: 100 + 26% + 40% + 26% + 15%**

 **Int: 115 + 26%**

 **Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 3**

 **Money:** **2,41** **6** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**

* * *

Sorry that it's a short chapter! I was making it longer by going into the next section, but I felt like I had written it fairly poorly, so I'm gonna try to take my time on it. It may be a while before the next one while I try to figure out exactly how I'm gonna do this.


	17. Chapter 17

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

It had been a week since the day Kain had killed that man, but since he had Gamer's Mind to calm himself down, he was able to get over what had happened. He had just sold all of his extra items except for three of the silks, which he donated to the clan. In doing so, he earned 14.3 billion won. With such a huge amount of money, it was no wonder why he was now sitting down, browsing Abyss Auction; he had lots of money, and it was burning a hole in his pocket.

"What to buy, what to buy..." Kain browsed through all of the items on the website. He started to think of things that would help him the most, and while thinking of that, he thought of the passive skills he had gained from the outer ki technique. "If I could find another ki technique, it'd be easy to raise my stats for fighting..." Kain browsed through it.

He found one after a bit of searching, immediately putting it in his bin. 'Only' costing five million won, Kain figured it'd be worth it. Continuing his search for items of use, he thought of another way to raise his passive techniques. While not directly affecting stats, all of the martial arts he knew greatly increased the power and speed of hand to hand combat. He searched the website for different styles of martial arts, finding one that seemed especially strong. The book was called 'The Dragon's Claw: The Power of Ages'. It's cost was significantly higher, being forty million won.

"I wonder if it's more of a secret technique then," Kain wondered to himself.

Browsing further, he decided to look at more healing skills. The one he had was perfect for healing and boosting HP, but he didn't have anything for status effects, which he knew would arise if he fought more mages. Kain found a general one of those as well, costing him another twenty million won.

Then he thought of general techniques that could be used to augment his fighting style. It wouldn't be hard to find. Kain spent the most time browsing these, spending three hundred million won.

Happy with what his purchases, he went back to the front page, only for his good mood to be ruined.

On Sale!

Teenage Girl Magician

Low skill level, but gorgeous. A ring comes with purchase to control her.

$10,400,000,000

Looking at it, Kain knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that people are constantly sold like this, with no one there to help them. Sighing, he added her to the bin as well. To finish his day of splurging off, he purchased the quick delivery, which was raised to a million won due to him buying an 'item' so large.

Sickened of the Abyss Auction, he waited patiently for his order to come.

The books came first, only five minutes after the purchase. He quickly pulled them out and learned them.

 **Outer Ki Technique of the Kira (Passive & Active) Lv 1**

After the defeat of the Kira clan, this technique among many others were taken from them, and they were used as a basic style for many others who were unable to develop their own.

Passively increases Str by 1%

Passively increases Vit by 1%

Passively increases Dex by 1%

While active, all stats listed above +10

Cannot be active while using another outer ki technique

 **Dragon's Claw Style (Passive) Lv 1**

A martial arts style stolen from the Dragon's Claw Clan after its obliteration by a rogue member, it was originally made to combat the ancient dragons of time, using their own style against them.

Passively increases hand to hand combat speed by 10%

Passively increases hand to hand combat damage by 10%

If not already learned, the skill Crush is automatically developed

 **Crush (Active) Lv 1**

A skill used with the hands, it can be used to destroy those who are grasped

Increases grip strength by 30%

 **Magician's Savior (Active) Lv 1**

Developed during the times that mana originated, it is the most basic technique to return the body to its natural state of being.

Removes status effects of low rank

Higher ranks of status effects can be removed with higher level of skill

 **Regeneration (Active) Lv 1**

Basic healing technique of mages to heal over time

Heals 10 HP per minute

Lasts 30 minutes

 **Quick Strike (Active) Lv 1**

Technique used to increase the speed of an attack

Increases attack speed by 5%

 **Multi Casting (Passive) Lv 1**

A technique developed long ago to allow mages control over more than one spell at a time

Current number of spells able to be cast at once: 2

 **Whirlwind Strike (Active) Lv 1**

Using wind, the user can cast an attack across the air, cutting all in its path

Current Distance: 25 meters

 **Power of the Tiger (Active) Lv 1**

Changing the structure of the human body to increase muscle mass, it boosts the strength of the user

Increases Str by 20

Lasts 30 Minutes

 **New Status Created: Water Affinity**

 **New Status Created: Earth Affinity**

Feeling quite happy with the purchases, Kain sat waiting for the woman with the new outer ki technique on, turning on Regeneration and Power of the Tiger. Since the trip apparently took considerably longer than the book delivery, he began holding a simple ball of fire in one hand and water in the other to train his multi casting.

"Damn, this is boring," Kain said as he noticed that his skill level in the outer ki technique increased to 10. A minute later, before he could gain any more increases to his skills, an Abyss Auction salesman appeared, holding the woman Kain had purchased by the arm. The teenage girl was blindfolded and shackled in chains, letting her head droop, resigned to her fate.

"Here's the ring to control her. I hope you purchase more from Abyss Auction!" The salesman tossed the ring to Kain, giving him a bright smile, apparently not caring that he just finished a transaction of a human being. A moment later, the salesman disappeared, opening up a barrier.

Kain immediately tossed away the ring and broke the shackles on the girl, removing her blindfold as well.

 **Left Alone**

 **Hinata Boruno Lv 11**

Hinata looked up at Kain in fear. "What are you doing?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Releasing you, of course. I saw you being sold and couldn't stand the thought of it." Kain stepped back to see her, smiling lightly.

"W-What?" Hinata gasped.

"Yep. But before you go, I'd prefer if you'd let me train you a little. I don't want you getting caught again. Is that okay? If it's not, you can leave now if you'd prefer." Kain was still smiling at her, trying to make her feel comfortable.

"Um, I guess?" Hinata still didn't believe Kain, but she figured that she wouldn't be able to stop him if he wanted to do something to her.

"Great! Are you ready? I'll make sure you're safe the whole time." Kain raised his hand, and the world around them twisted, putting them in an illusion dungeon. "I learned this one not long ago. The creatures are gonna be way stronger than you, but I'll hold them off while you finish it, okay?"

Hinata was obviously worried, but she nodded.

"Okay, here we go!" Kain said, happy to help her. He invited her to a party. She yelped, seeing the screen pop up. Hinata hesitantly pressed the join option, and then Kain ran off.

A minute later, he returned with a shadow creature on his tail. When it got close enough to Hinata that Kain figured she could attack it, he spun on his heels, quickly striking it with all his force. After the experience with his dad, he knew where to strike to kill it. He also knew from nearly dying where it wouldn't quite finish the creature off. Leaving only a sliver of its life, Kain dodged its counter strike.

"Go ahead! It said you were a magician, so I assume you have a basic magic attack?" Kain dodged the creature again, keeping it occupied.

Gulping, Hinata raised her hands. "The heavens guide in my attack, Magic Arrow!" A small blast came from her, directed towards the creature.

Noticing that it wasn't going to hit the shadow creature, Kain quickly grabbed the creature, lightly throwing it into the path of the attack. The creature screeched when hit by the small attack, dropping the final bit of health that it still had. "Good thing it hit! If it hadn't, the light throw probably would've finished it off."

Kain glanced over at Hinata, who was staring in amazement at all the pop ups around her.

 **Left Alone**

 **Hinata Boruno Lv 17**

"Well, I guess that makes sense, since she just beat something well over fifty levels of her level," Kain said to himself. "Hey! Say 'Status Window'," he shouted out to Hinata. She did so, and yelped again, still surprised by the windows popping up. "All right, put all thirty points into your Int." After she did that, Kain turned around. "And let's do it again!"

Kain and Hinata trained all day using this method. By way of a few accidents, Kain had leveled up once. Hinata had raised to thirty. Kain used Observe on her, guiding her in what to raise.

 **Vit 10**

 **Str 5**

 **Dex 17**

 **Int 100**

 **Wis 63**

 **Luk 10**

She didn't get the skills that Kain got when he raised his stats above fifty or a hundred, but that made sense when he thought about it. Those skills said that they were granted to those born with it, but Kain got them through his stat points. She couldn't get something she wasn't born with. She was getting plenty stronger, though.

"Hey, Kain?" Hinata asked him quietly, still nervous, despite him proving that he was letting her free.

"What's up?" Kain asked, stretching after the training.

"So... Where should I go?"

Kain considered that. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I kind of just figured you'd want to go back to wherever you were taken from."

She shook her head. "No. It was completely destroyed by the people that took me. Everyone I knew was either killed or enslaved. After going through what I did..." Hinata shuddered. "The ones who died were the lucky ones."

"Oh..." Kain looked away, wondering what she had to go through. "Well, you're safe now," Kain gave her a weak smile. "I'm not sure how to help you through what's happened, but I won't let it happen again."

"You've already helped me some," she replied, smiling.

They were silent for a minute until Kain thought of something. "Hey! Do you want to join the Crimson Rain? They've been really nice to me, and if you join us, I can keep you safe." When he noticed that Hinata looked surprised at the question, he elaborated. "If you've got nowhere to go, then I'm sure I could convince the clan head to let you in. He let me in easily enough. You'd be a great addition." He grinned at her.

"Really, you'd do that for me?" Hinata said, her eyes watery. "Yes! I'd love to join."

A few minutes later, Kain guided her to Nagato's work area. "Hey, Nagato! I have a question for you!" Kain nearly burst into the room, startling the man.

"Damn, Kain, you're gonna knock my papers everywhere! What can I help you with?" Nagato quickly collected the pile of papers that had nearly toppled over from the sudden gust caused by his outburst.

"This is Hinata Boruno." Kain gestured to Hinata. Then Kain realized that he should probably be more formal when asking Nagato for a favor. He quickly bowed and muttered, "sorry".

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Boruno," Nagato said, nodding towards her. "How did you two become acquainted?"

"Um, well, I kind of...bought her." Kain said slowly. Seeing a slight shift in Nagato's ki, he quickly elaborated. "I bought her so I could set her free. I was on Abyss Auction and couldn't stand the thought of leaving her to be abused by others."

"I understand," Nagato slowly nodded. "Are you asking for safe travel back to where she came?" Nagato knew well what usually occurred when people were captured, but he was hopeful nonetheless. After seeing the look in Hinata's eyes, though, he knew that it wasn't meant to be. He sighed. "No, I guess not. Then what would be your reason to visit?"

"Um... I would like to recommend her as a potential member of Crimson Rain," Kain replied, still attempting to be former.

Nagato looked at her, determining her strength. "She's definitely not a martial artist... A wizard, I presume? We could always use more of those, with our limited number of them. I accept her as a member of Crimson Rain."

"R-really?" Hinata stammered. "I can be a member?"

"Of course," Nagato replied, smiling. "Kain trusts you, and I see no reason to not believe his judgement. You are now a member of Crimson Rain."

Kain smiled over at her, and he noticed a change above her head.

 **Crimson Rain's Trainee**

 **Hinata Boruno Lv 30**

"Welcome to the clan," Kain said, making Hinata smile.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 61 Exp 0.15%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340 +425/425)**

 **Mana: 1700/1700 (+85/85)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 40% + 10%**

 **Str: 115 + 26% + 40% + 10%**

 **Dex: 100 + 26% + 40% + 26% + 15% + 10%**

 **Int: 115 + 26%**

 **Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money:** **5** **,** **951** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**


	18. Chapter 18

I have no connection and own nothing related to The Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

"Are you sure you have to go?" Kain's mother asked Himamura.

Himamura sighed. "Yeah. I really don't want to, since I promised Kain and you I wouldn't go anywhere for a while, but they really need me in America."

"It'll be okay, dad," Kain said.

Kain's father had been called away on business by a group working to prevent damage to the real world in America. There was a group of criminals who had been introduced into the Abyss that were using the abilities to cause problems.

"Oh, I know it will be," Himamura winked towards Kain. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone. I wouldn't want your mom to walk in on you and Hinata."

"We're not dating! She's just my friend!" Kain yelled out with his face blushing slightly. It had been three days since Kain had saved Hinata from the Abyss. Two days ago, he brought her to his house to eat since she hadn't bought any groceries yet, causing both of his parents to embarrass him to extreme levels. Hinata didn't seem to mind, though.

"Sure, Kain." His dad grinned at him. "I'll see you soon, stay safe."

"Sure thing," Kain replied. He gave a short hug to his father and then moved out of the way so his mother could say good-bye.

Looking up at his mother, he wondered why her title was different than before. It used to say "The Concerned Mother," but it changed over the night. He had noticed it in the morning.

The Wife of the Illusionist

Nahiko Rockbear Lv 8

"I wonder if dad told her," Kain thought to himself. He looked at his watch. "Oh mom, I gotta get going! I told Murkuro I'd hang out with him today."

"Okay hun, just tell me if you decide to stay the night," Nahiko replied. "Stay safe."

"I will!" Kain yelled back as he jogged off in the direction of the clan. Murkuro, Kain, and Hinata had planned on training today, with the intention of bringing Murkuro's level closer to Kain's.

When he reached there, they were waiting for him near the entrance. "It'd be so much simpler if you just lived here," Murkuro said as Kain walked up to him.

"Yeah, but that'd cause more problems than it would help." Kain shrugged. "How are you, Hinata? Settled into the new place?"

"Y-yeah. Thanks for helping me get the stuff all set up, Kain." Hinata smiled up at him. Over the few days that she had been with the clan, Kain and Murkuro had helped her get settled, and afterward they would just hang out as a group, mostly getting to know Hinata since Kain and Murkuro were already friends. She was very cautious about new people given her past, but it hadn't taken too long for her to be talking freely amongst them.

"No problem," Kain said, grinning at her. "So should we go train?"

They nodded, and Kain led the way to open an illusion barrier to train. Not long after, they were rushing shadow creatures, with Kain doing his best to control the battle so Murkuro and Hinata could gain levels.

After a long time of training, Murkuro was level 55 and Hinata was level 52. They were resting before another round.

"I can't believe that you train against these ridiculously strong creatures," Murkuro gasped, still recovering.

"If we can beat them, there's no harm in doing it," Kain replied. "Though until I'm at least level 80, I don't wanna touch the demon that's summoned when you beat enough of them." Kain stood up and stretched. "You guys are within ten levels of me now, so we can share the experience equally. Maybe I'll try to get some experience this-"

Suddenly, the illusion barrier around him shattered.

"Look out!" Murkuro shouted out, grabbing Hinata and pulling her out of the way. Kain looked up, his outer ki shooting out at full strength. Above them, a boulder the size of a house fell towards Kain. Murkuro had successfully gotten Hinata out of the way.

Kain raised his palm to face the boulder. "Mana Beam!" He shot through the boulder and cut in half, causing it to fall on both sides of him. "Where the fuck did that come from?" Kain yelled out quickly, glancing around at his surroundings. Kain noticed a large man a fair distance away, dashing towards a clan building. As soon as the man reached it, his outer ki spiked and the man ran straight through it, bringing the building down with him.

"We're being attacked!" Kain relayed to Murkuro and Hinata.

"What?" Murkuro's head swung around to where Kain was looking and noticed the destruction. "We need to respond!"

They rush towards the building with Kain leading the way. When they reach it, they glance around, trying to find the enemy that attacked them. Then they noticed it wasn't just one enemy. With a quick count, Kain glanced towards his team. "Looks like sixty-two enemies. And they aren't push overs. Most of them are about level 45, and there are two that I can't see the level of. We wouldn't stand a chance against those two. It looks like the clan head is fighting those two, and the other members are fighting as well."

"Damn it, we were so far away! Thank god that guy broke the illusion barrier, we wouldn't have noticed this until it was all over," Murkuro snarled.

"Let's get to fighting then." Kain breathed slowly, preparing himself for what he was about to do. "We can't leave them alive right now, they could still be a danger to the weaker clan members."

Murkuro glanced over at him. "You sure you can handle it?"

Kain nodded slowly. "I'll have to. Will you be okay, Hinata?"

"I'll do my best. If it comes down to it, I'll cripple them at the very least." Her voice was shaky, but Kain believed in her.

"All right, move out!" The three of them separated, attacking different opponents.

* * *

Mercenary for Hire

Kon Repma Lv 49

Kain immediately used his gravity field, surprising Kon. "You wanna fight me, little kid?" Kon snarled as he rose from his knee, jumping towards Kain.

"No, I want to destroy you." Kain parried Kon's attack, bringing his elbow into Kon's face. When Kon backed up to regroup, Kain brought his palm forward. "Mana Beam." Kon quickly moved his body, his side getting scathed by the blast.

"Damn, that almost got me. You're gonna pay for that." Kon brought his hand up, positioning it to look like how a child would to make a fake gun. "The Heavens and Hell, guide the energy in my hand, Magic Machine Gun!" Suddenly Kain was moving at top speed to dodge the blue energy that fired from Kain's fingertip. The blasts continued, nearly hitting Kain.

Kain quickly put his hand into his inventory, bringing out the Sword of the Shadows. "It's time to finish this." Kain swung the sword, firing the shadows out of the blade.

"What?!" Kon tried to dodge, but he hadn't expected the blade to fire something like it had. He wasn't able to dodge in time though. His arm flew off, separated by the dense shadow that continued past him. "Shit!"

Kain looked at him with remorse. "Know that I didn't want to do this." He swung his blade again. This time, the shadows reached their target perfectly, splitting Kon in half. "Where's the next one?"

* * *

"Hahaha, die you fuckers!" A woman screamed out as she fired a blast of mana at two weaker Crimson Rain members who were already lying on the ground, nearly dead. Murkuro ran in front of the blast, letting it strike his back to stop it.

"You won't kill anyone in my clan!" Murkuro snarled at her.

"Oh it's much too late for that," she chuckled. "I killed two others on my way up here."

"You bitch." Murkuro's ki rose high, higher than it had ever been before. Like before, when Murkuro had decided to use the points from Kain, he put them in something he knew would be difficult to raise in real training. Instead of Luck this time, Murkuro decided to put half of them into Intelligence and the other half into Wisdom. The effect was immediately noticeable. It was immensely easier to use his outer ki, and he knew he could strengthen it much higher than before.

The woman giggled. "Oh, so you wanna play with me? Such a mean boy, ready to hit a girl."

"I'm not here to talk," Murkuro replied seriously. He rushed forward, immediately cloaking his fists in flames. The woman summoned a barrier, blocking Murkuro's first two strikes, but Murkuro broke through it. His final strike hit her in the shoulder. Instead of breaking through the skin like he had expected, the skin was like iron.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that, boy," she smirked. In her hand, she held what appeared to Murkuro to be a wand. "Magic Arrows." Suddenly Murkuro was struck in the chest with multiple blasts of mana, burning his skin.

"Fuck!" Murkuro struck her in the chest, giving him some distance from her. "Her defense is stronger than I thought. I guess I'll have to rely on magic. Too bad I only know one kind." Murkuro focused on his hands, raising the temperature of the fire surrounding them. "But at least I can use it well!" The fire turned white, heat radiating off of it.

Murkuro brought his arm back and then punched towards the woman, releasing a wave of flames as thick as a vehicle. She was engulfed in it, and Murkuro could hear her screams. When the blast faded away, she still stood, but much worse for wear. "That...fucking...hurt!" She rose her hand, firing off a torrent of magic arrows. Murkuro dodged around them as best as he could, but some of the blasts still reached him.

Ignoring the damage the blasts were causing him, he dashed towards the woman. Murkuro struck out with the hand that was surrounded by white flames still. "Block this!" He hit her in the center of her chest. With a quick yell, the flames dug into her body. The skin darkened, and the flames finally broke through. It ripped through her chest, firing out of the other side.

She fell dead, burnt to a crisp. Murkuro fell to his knees, having completely exhausted his mana. "Maybe I should have tried to save some for another fight..." He fell onto his back, fighting the rush of darkness. "I refuse to pass out!" he gasped. Murkuro rolled over. "Is everyone else doing okay?"

* * *

"The heavens guide in my attack, Magic Arrow," Hinata whispered, sending a large mana arrow at the back of an enemy. It struck him, causing him to fly into the building he was attacking.

The man crawled back out, snarling. "Who the hell did that?" Smoke was rising off of his back where the attack had hit him. He looked around, but before he could find Hinata, another blast hit him in the face. "What the fuck?!" The man finally caught a glimpse of her.

The man grinned at her. "Oh, you're kinda hot. You sure you wanna fight? I'd be happy to take you to do...other things."

Hinata grimaced at the thought and fired another magic arrow, but now that he knew where she was, he was able to dodge it. "Missed me, honey! I guess you chose to fight me then. But I suppose I could just force you to do what I want after I crush you."

Hinata quickly thought of her past, but she shook it off. "Good luck!" She continued to fire the arrows at him. He obviously had no way of attacking from a distance, so she ran away as she did so, keeping him within range. He was quickly catching up, though.

"I didn't wanna use this, but I guess I should have enough mana now." Hinata had raised her Intelligence even higher with the points from her new levels, focusing purely on it. "Infinite Magic Arrows!" The arrows fired from her hand at an incredible rate. The man was only able to dodge a small number of them, the rest hitting him.

The man never made it to her. He was quickly defeated, barely able to defend himself. "That was a lot easier than expected," Hinata remarked, surprised. "I guess that's what happens when you're a close distance fighter only."

* * *

After defeating another two members of the attackers, Kain met up with Murkuro and Hinata, both of which he quickly healed.

"How did it go, guys?" Kain asked.

"We beat 'em. Though I think I did the worst out of us," Murkuro grimaced.

"No, you did very well. Your opponent was level 51. Both mine and Hinata's opponents were lower." Kain had seen them fighting while he was defeating his second opponent.

"Should we get back to combat now? We can fight as a group now, since the enemies are closer together." Murkuro was ready to fight again, stretching his arms.

That's when they heard the explosion.

 **The Gamer** **of Crimson Rain**

 **Kain Rockbear Lv 61 Exp 48.81%**

 **Health: 1700/1700 (+340/340 +425/425)**

 **Mana: 1700/1700 (+85/85)**

 **Vit: 50 + 26% + 42% + 10%**

 **Str: 115 + 26% + 42% + 10%**

 **Dex: 100 + 26% + 42% + 26% + 15% + 10%**

 **Int: 115 + 26%**

 **Wis: 50 + 26% + 6%**

 **Luk: 22**

 **Points: 8**

 **Money:** **7** **,** **1** **51** **,** **9** **83** **,500 Won**


	19. Apology and Notice

For all those readers of this story (which seems to be quite a few surprisingly, I didn't expect so many to follow this story), I wanted to apologize for suddenly dropping the story a significant while ago with no notice. For those still interested, I've decided to remake the story in first person, starting from chapter 1. I won't promise that I will release consistently or even release often, due to my schedule and my own drive to write, which spikes up and down.

Also, for those who don't know of the story, I was originally inspired to write my own story after reading The Games We Play by Ryuugi. I had enjoyed his so much and knew of the huge capabilities behind The Gamer ability, so I decided to make one of my own. I believe his story is on this site as well, though I read it from his original post in Spacebattles. If you haven't read it, you should, because simply put, he's an amazing writer.


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